The fierce, ninety-nine year old woman in this story is a sweary, angry survivor, and the book thrums with her determination to piece her way through her complicated past. There are dark, unsettling moments, but they're balanced with descriptions of village life, and her gentle friendship with a teenage boy who helps her navigate a mobile phone, Skype and Facebook. Complex, moving, funny and tragic, I was enthralled by Miss Pauline throughout.
Has she been reckless, inviting this young man with a yeng-yeng and the faded image of a gun in his hair into her house? Stories of elderly people murdered by their young relatives are commonplace. Would be a fuckin relief, she thinks. Lef the mess. Just lef it. No confession, no request for forgiveness, no reckoning with the past, no confronting the pain she caused for others.
If Lamont intends to kill her, she hopes she won’t see it coming.
