- A character driven thriller that takes old devices and mixes them together for something new and fresh.
Give Me the Child
Give Me the Child, unlike its contemporaries, does not necessarily throw you right into the mix immediately. It is a character driven story, and you get a feel for Cat right off the bat – small details allude to the life she leads, and though seemingly normal, we quickly begin to descend into the dysfunctional reality of it all. This is mainly kicked off by the entrance of Ruby (who is referred to as Ruby Winter throughout for some inexplicable reason), the strange, still unknown illegitimate child of her husband, Tom.
The novel explores, uniquely, all manners of interesting dynamics between the different members of Cat’s world, most of whom have some sort of dysfunctional contribution to the narrative of it all. The story, likewise, does not follow an exactly predictable plot, and this adds to the enjoyment of a novel that moves slightly away from the campy mysteries we’re used to, but not so much so as to alienate us.
Written well, if you want a story that will capture your interest through character development as opposed to quick paced action, you’ll enjoy McGrath’s latest offering.
She won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in 1995 for her non fiction book Motel Nirvana, which examined the New Age movement, and detailed McGrath's travels around the American states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona. Her other non-fiction books have explored the "Information Age" (Hard, Soft and Wet), 20th century British social history, (Hopping and Silvertown) and the non-fiction book, The Long Exile about the High Arctic relocation.
In recent years McGrath has written crime novels, including a trilogy set in the Arctic with Inuit detective Edie Kiglatuk, and the standalone thriller Give Me the Child. As a book reviewer and travel writer, she has written for The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Independent among other publications.
