Review – The Year Of The Rat by Clare Furniss

Reviewed by Kay Brooks

The Rat is Pearl’s baby sister and she is to blame for their mother’s death. Pearl’s life has changed forever and she has been left angry, restless and, even worse, second best to a purple, veiny baby that looks nothing like the cherub she had imagined. Determined to push everyone away, including her best friend, her interfering granny, her father and the concerned neighbours, Pearl is struggling to come to terms with the loss of her mother. Then she discovers that her mother might not be completely lost after all.

Neatly organised into the months making up the year following the death of teenage Pearl’s mother, this is a cathartic story full of understandable angst. It is Pearl’s search for resolution. While life continues around her, Pearl feels her own is on stand-by. Nothing seems to hold any importance anymore, not even her final exams. Pearl seems to find reasons to hate everyone around her. She blames her new baby sister for the death of her mother, her father for insisting on their being another baby, her mother for allowing it to go ahead and nobody seems to be able to offer any consolation. To add to this, her best friend, Molly, has a new boyfriend and doesn’t seem to need Pearl anymore and the handsome boy next door grates on her nerves. All this combined should make Pearl dislikeable but I found her extremely easy to relate to. Her anger and personality flaws imprison her within her own grief and make her more real. She isn’t perfect; in fact, she’s selfish in her deliberate failure to acknowledge the suffering going on around her. She is a character that has been created with care. After experiencing my teenage years, I totally understand the concept of ‘cutting off your nose to spite your face’ and Pearl has much more to deal with than I ever did.

I should point out that, though may seem like it is going to be a very depressing read, there are lots of humorous parts along the way, not least the strange conversations Pearl has with her stubborn, departed mother. I had a huge amount of empathy for Pearl’s baby sister as well and found myself hoping that Pearl would see how much she was needed. It’s safe to say I became emotionally invested in Pearl as I read of her disruptive year. Her friendship with Molly is extremely well crafted, showing the natural ebb and flow of teenage friendship as it undergoes the trials of growing up and in this case apart.

Although the novel is targeted at a ‘young adult’ audience, this is a wonderful read for anyone who has experienced grief and wondered why the world is continuing to spin when their own has stopped still.

7/10

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