Our Endless Numbered Days

We read this book as our December book of the month after being recommended by a difference book club.

Peggy, an eight year old is taken away from the family home by her father, James, a 'retreater'. He encourages her by saying they were going on holiday to find Peggy's absent Mother Ute. Once they arrive in a run down shack in a remote forest in Germany and after a particularly bad storm he tells Peggy that her Mother is gone and that the whole world over the mountain is 'gone'.

They live, in isolation, often with difficulty for 9 years before Peggy, known as Punzle, finds her way back to civilisation. During the last years there are glimpses of her father's decline in mental health and Peggy's own obscured and sometime warped thoughts.

I really enjoyed this book which is told as an 8 year old growing up, Peggy, and the 17 year old Punzle who has returned from the Forest. I felt it was very well written and the descriptions of the environment, the coming of age and first sexual encounter quite sensitively handled. I felt the book could have been longer but the growing sense of drama was really good and kept me, as the reader, wondering. I felt the ending was very cleverly written and left the reader with a little confusion; but what a great book for discussion.

This is a coming of age book like no other, it really stands out from the rest.