The Behaviour of Moths by Poppy Adams

Ginny is upstairs, watching out the window for the return of her sister Vivi. It has been years since Vivi has come home, and now that their parents are dead and they are both in the autumns of their lives Vivi has decided to come home. As Ginny waits she remembers their childhood, the highs, the lows and the moths. Ginny like so many of her forefathers is a lepidopterist, whilst Vivi has never been interested. Once Vivi arrives, Ginny finds her whole world turned upside down and in the space of one weekend a myraid of dark family secrets unravels into a dramatic climax.

For anyone who has read the The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox I thoroughly recommend that you read this. Although in some ways a similar theme, this is far more accessible yet with more twists and turns. It is beautifully written and Poppy Adams has a superb knack of lulling you into a false sense of security and leading you up the garden path before finally revealing all. I am surprised this is her first book but I will definitely be looking out for her next one.

This is definitely a meaty book exploring the relationships of parent and child and siblings in an era when you didn't talk about private things. This creates many secrets and lies and you're never sure who knows what because no one is really talking to each other. As the book unfolds you begin to realise that things that you assume only one or two people knew, in fact was a secret shared by many. It also illustrates how secrets and lies will all unravel and that the consequences are not always anticipated.

I really don't want to spoil this book for potential readers so I won't go into the themes the book covers in more detail than this. Suffice to say, I wouldn't call it a light hearted read but at the same time it didn't feel constantly bleak (like Eastenders makes you feel if you watch a few episodes and realise that in fact most of the families are there to suffer because nothing goes right in the end for anyone). I found that how I imagined the family and how it worked constantly changed as more and more flashbacks occurred and as Ginny and Vivi interacted. The good news is the bits about the moths are not offputting for those of us with no interest in the subject. It adds another beautiful layer to this book that adds to the storyline rather than existing as a separate theme.

I would definitely recommend this book to others and especially to book groups as there are plenty of topics for discussion.

*5 stars*

If you enjoyed this why not try 'The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox' by Maggie O'Farrell?

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox by Maggie O'Farrell

Iris Lockheart runs her own shop in Edinburgh. She has a string of
unfulfilled relationships to her name, her grandmother is in a world
of her own and her half brother constantly disapproves of the men
in her life. Then she gets a letter about Euphemia Lennox, a
relative she has never heard of who lives in a psychiatric unit. All
of a sudden Euphemia (or Esme as she prefers to be called) is
thrown into Iris' life and so begins a gradual untangling of threads
as to how Esme really ended up vanishing from polite society.

This is definitely one of those books you need to be in the right
mood to read. I think perhaps if I had been this book may have
scored 4 stars. As it was I initially found it a bit confusing. You keep
switching between the present, Esme's memories, Iris' memories
and Kitty's mind (these bits are particularly confusing as she
constantly switches to different time frames mid memory because
she's suffering Alzheimer's). Once you get past this and into the story
it's actually quite enjoyable. It shows how families coped with
post-colonialism, and how women were expected to behave and were
treated in 1930s polite society. It's dark in its way and as the story
progresses you gradually uncover more and more hidden secrets.

O'Farrell is also very good at throwing you off track. At first you
genuinely think Esme is not right in the head and then you realise
she's just different which wasn't acceptable at the time. There are
other instances of this but I won't spoil the storyline by telling you
about them!

In terms of writing style I'm not a huge fan of novels that flick
constantly between characters and at a rate of a page or two
between  switches. It does eventually work and by the end of the
book you  understand why its been written that way but initially it
is incredibly  frustrating. I did admire the bits where Kitty is the one
reflecting because I felt it was very very well done. I haven't had to
deal with  Alzheimer's myself but from what I know about it from
friends who have it is almost like the person has no control over
their chain of thoughts. They don't necessarily forget but their ability
to distinguish between reality,  dreams and memories goes. It just
somehow felt a very real depiction of what someone with Alzheimer's
might be thinking.

As with 'The Kabul Beauty School' I finished the book feeling infinitely
glad that I live in the here and now and that even if I were living in
the 1930s I come from a working class family so wouldn't have had
the life Esme and Kitty did. I'm also glad that I have a much better
relationship with my own sister! Although I wasn't in the mood for it
this weekend it was still a good read and definitely worth trying. Just
have a bit of patience with it!

*3 stars*

This review has been submitted by e-mail.


If you enjoyed this why not try 'The Behaviour of Moths' by Poppy Adams?

If you want to find out more about this book why not visit Amazon UK by visiting the following link
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox