Guardian journalist Charlotte Edwardes's debut novel, Trouble Was, set during the long, hot summer of 1976, offers a haunting child's-eye view of adult neglect. The story follows primary-aged Frank and his younger siblings, Odette and Patrick, as they stay with their Aunt Perry at a remote farm in the West Country. The heatwave and escalating water shortage mirror the deteriorating mental health of their mother and the unraveling of family life.
A convincing child narrator
Edwardes takes the risk of a first-person child narrator, Frank, who is convincingly precocious. The use of past tense allows both immediate observation and the steady hand of a remembering adult. Through the gap between Frank's understanding and the reader's comprehension, the book conveys the adults' complexities: adultery, hereditary mental illness, and inadequate efforts to fend off social services.
The novel opens with Frank, four-year-old Odette, and toddler Patrick crammed into their mother's smelly car, driving through the night to Aunt Perry's farmhouse. Their father is away in the navy, and Frank's memories of him are complicated—a reliable figure when present but a volatile threat to his mother's stability. In his absence, Frank is forced to step into a parental role.
Domestic squalor and brutality
Aunt Perry, also raising her sons largely without their father, fails to meet basic needs: food is erratic, water comes from a dirty well, maggots infest the kitchen sink, and hygiene is nonexistent. Frank's cousins are casually brutalized and brutal, seeing the newcomers as scapegoats. The plot follows the inevitable deterioration, with both mothers believing parenting is about “toughening up.” Frank's mum tells him, “If you want to survive in this world, you have to put up with it … put up and shut up.” She calls Odette “Pudding” and sings that she's big and fat until Odette howls, then scolds her for being too sensitive. She slaps Frank for twisting his hands when upset. Aunt Perry punishes children until they stop asking for help, even for a convulsing toddler.
Elegant storytelling
Edwardes, a former war correspondent, excels at small details that tell a terrible story. She knows when looking away is more effective than full frontal description, haunting readers without sensationalism. The story builds like a thunderstorm, making readers wait for resolution. The ending, true to realism, offers no cheerful resolution. As Edwardes writes, the rain falls but there's no cleansing storm; the joy lies in the quality of the writing. Trouble Was is published by Bloomsbury (£16.99).
