This book has a bit of a reputation. It is dark, it is gruesome and it will stick with you for days. It is not for the faint of heart, and if you want an uplifting story it would be best to look elsewhere.
It tells the story of Davey and his neighbours, who adopt their two cousins when their parent die in a car crash. The adopted girls become victims of Daveys mothers abuse, and eventually the older girl Meg becomes the play thing for all the neighbourhood kids.
This book was very well written, Ketchum created such an atmosphere in every scene, it is truly immersive. I know it's a cliche, but I really did struggle to put this down, unable to turn away from the descent into depravity - to use another cliche - like watching a car crash.
It also seems he has done his research, and hasn't exaggerated or made the abuse up to make the story better. I've had a little look into the crimes that influenced this book, and it seems like the book is pretty close to what happened. Jeez, that is disheartening - I kind of hoped he had stretched the truth. In fact, he has said he had to take things out, and miss bits of the truth to prevent the book becoming too dark and disturbing. Of course, things were made up for the narrative - this is a storybook after all.
The thing is, these were real crimes, and it happened to a real person. Is this exploitation? Is there a reason for reading this book other than the shock value - and is this what Sylvia died for? I know there's a million films and books out there that are based on true stories - but this feels especially disrespectful to the victim. I can't put my finger on why though. It may be the focus on the nasty bits, like that's what we should focus on - that's what we hear about when anyone mentions this book, and it is not subtle about the details.It is like a torture-porn film, expect it happened, then someone retold the story in a cheap novel.
After reading and reflecting on this book, I can't shake the fact that this was a real death, and though it was skilfully written, I think Kethchum's book is distasteful. By all means, lets remember what happened, but a horror novel is not how to do it. Lets keep it respectful.
Have you read this book? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments
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