Island by Jane Rogers

Island

Jane Rogers

Jane Rogers is vastly underrated. This haunting novel combines myth and reality to evoke the story of a young woman's search for the mother who abandoned her as a baby.

Extract
Why did I decide to kill my mother? The reasons are quite simple. When you're young you think other people can help you. Parents if you have any. Friends. Teachers. Doctors. Drink, tablets, counselling. Maybe they do help some people. But actually the fix is to know what you want to do and do it. Being unhappy, asking advice, trying to escape, analysing it; none of that progresses you. To progress you need to lift up your foot and take a step. I thought, I want to kill my mother. And I will.
Parallels
  • Emotionally Weird by Kate Atkinson
  • Weird by Ali Smith