32C, That's Me

It’s the summer term of Year 9 and all is set fair in Jess Bayliss’s world. She has a comfortable life with her teacher parents and a glamorous Year 10 boyfriend: Alex, aka Muggs. An unfashionable love of Shakespeare instilled by her mother can only help when Jess auditions for Lady Macbeth opposite Alex as Macbeth. Both are successful and Jess looks forward to a radiant summer. Then she picks up a puzzling answer phone message for her mother from the Daybreak Centre and soon her world is unravelling. It transpires that Diane Bayliss has breast cancer, but this is only the beginning of the family’s troubles. While Jess’ Mum is having chemotherapy in the hospital, Dad – who works at Jess’ school – starts going into work and coming home at all sorts of odd hours. And, suddenly bubbly Mrs Taylor, the Drama teacher is everywhere, usually deep in conversation with Dad… When Jess’ best friend starts behaving strangely and it looks as if everyone’s going on Mrs Taylor’s special cast-bonding trip to the Big Rock Festival in Cornwall, except for Jess, life has truly turned upside down.

This is a strange hybrid of a book. The pinkish cover, complete with bra and girly typeface, suggests one kind of story in store, which is borne out by the jaunty first-person account and confidential addresses to the reader. Then Higgins lobs her narrative grenade and the story and tone veer uneasily between the serious and joky. On one level this reflects the human reality of people struggling to adapt to trauma in the family and uncertain how to react, but at times it feels as if the author, herself, is uncomfortable with too much gravity.

She does make interesting and very skilful use of Jess’ developing understanding of Lady Macbeth to examine a variety of questions about relationships, sexuality and power. And glimpsed through the teen-speak, is a much more resonant book about femininity, body-image and growing-up.