The Gone Book

Matt was ten when his Mam left. That was five years ago and over these years he has been writing to her – letters he has never sent but which he keeps as his Gone Book. Now with his family falling apart – his father struggling with alcohol promles, his elder brother turning to drugs, owing money, his younger brother needing support, Matt decides he must find her. And he does – but the consequences are very different to his expectations. The truth can be very uncomfortable – and the consequences devastating.

Helena Close catapults us into the chaotic, emotional world of the adolescent facing the challenges of life. We see a contemporary environment that is messy, complicated, full of difficulty – even tragic – but there is also humour. Indeed there are moments when the reader might be forgiven for thinking that the scenario is beyond belief – and yet will know that often reality is even more unbelievable. The narrative has an authenticity, and moves at a pace through dialogue and the personal experience of Matt rather than description or reflection seen from the perspective of a third person. Indeed the language is so contemporary and colloquial that adults recommending this book – and it is worth recommending – should be aware that it makes . Young readers will feel its reality and find in Matt someone they can recognise; his world will be one they themselves can imagine, or indeed may be living. This is a debut author well able to join writers such as Brian Conaghan or Alex Wheatle in putting teenage experience onto the page.