M for Mammy

Margaret
A very hard book to get into and had to take it in small doses to prevent brain scrambling!
I thought the picture of an autistic persons jumbled thoughts was very convincing
Not the amusing book I thought it was going to be but thought provoking
7/10

Eve
I did not like the way this book was written. It got easier towards the end, but it was hard work I felt.
None of the characters were particularly likeable, although the Grandmother was sympathetic towards the rest of the family towards the end of the book.
It was not surprising that the mother had a stroke, as most of the family problems were on her shoulders. The father was fairly useless and thought mainly of himself. In fact it seems to be Jack that runs the family, this is probably the only way that it works because of his autism, but difficult for everyone else none-the-less.
The idea of writing to Anne Frank was interesting and could have been a lifeline for Jenny as she seemed to have inherited so many worried from her mother.
The author must have done a fair amount of research to be able to write this book, but for me it was not particularly enjoyable. I would only give it a 5.

Chris
Finally finished the book. Found it an unusual one to read, I really enjoyed some parts of it and got bored with others. Liked the Jenny chapters and the Granny input but found the rest a bit too much "creative writing". I did find parts of it amusing and I think if she'd stuck to a more ordinary format it would have been more enjoyable. I would give it a 5.5.
It will be interesting to find out what others thought!

Yvonne
This book deals with difficult, sensitive issues which have direct consequences on day to day family life. The characters are realistic, each with their individual foibles while showing care and concern for each other. Here is a particular understanding of Autism with its perspective on shapes, lines and colour. Also the mother's journey through the Stroke treatment and rehabilitation together with the effect on Jenny's emotional state as a child growing up was poignant. Granny Mae-Ann with her no-nonsense approach brings an element of humour into the credible home life scenes. The book delivers on Communication, both verbal and non-verbal effectively.
I give it a score of 8.

Mabe
For me I'm afraid it was😞.
I think it was far too descriptive which made it boring for me. I liked the Gran and Jenny but they were the only ones . Sorry but it didn't draw me in.
5/10

Steph
I read half of it, and I quite enjoyed most of the different people within in except for the mum herself. I found the words on the page difficult which then put me off the rest of the book.

Sonia
When I read the first chapter I thought it was going to be totally unreadable for me and I was not looking forward to trying. However it soon picked up and I found it very interesting and quite well written. I liked Jenny but was more impressed with Granny Mae-Ann. I thought she was an incredible force within the family and kept it from falling apart when the mother was hospitalised. She was also incredibly caring and tender towards her daughter when she was at home which was somewhat unexpected - the progression of her character and personality was well drawn. I am unfamiliar with autism and know only what is shown in the media so cannot comment on the realism or otherwise of Jacob's character but it seemed well written and hopefully authentic. Jenny documenting all the problems and events in the family gave it a different dimension and although I understood the desire for Anne Frank's story to have a different ending I assume it was a metaphor for her own family's story to end well. All in all a decent read and an interesting concept.

From me - 6 out 100

This is a quirky kind of book. I found the story took some time to get started. But once I got into it, it was an enjoyable read. The characters are interesting with mammy having a stroke along the way. The children are very different, and dad and granny are entertaining and always seem to be arguing or fixing something. It’s an original and funny tale, albeit a bit complicated. Parts of the story are warm and parts were tragic. I would have liked a bit more detail about the mother and her recovery and also about Jacob and his progress. He never seemed to change.
In the end I enjoyed this story, but it did take perseverance to stick with it.

At the start we meet the Augustts, a loving Irish family who are not without their problems. Dad loves his family but has no idea how to express his feelings. He has also been out of work for ages and has lost his way. Jacob, the son, is autistic and has never spoken. Jenny, the daughter is very intelligent but can’t quite work out how the world works so she writes it all down to try and make sense of it. Mum tries to hold the family together and is doing a pretty good job of it until she has a stroke, loses the power of speech and is hospitalised for a prolonged period. Enter Granny, a tour de force who moves in to look after everyone while Mum is away. This book is about a family who cope in the face of adversity because love conquers most things in the end and it is about communication, language and words. Alternating chapters give each of the family members the chance to tell the narrative from their own point of view.

There was a lot to like about this book. The characters were well developed and I felt I knew each of them fairly well by the time I reached the end. There are situations which the family struggles to overcome, but the love which they have for each other, and which they each demonstrate in their own way, is remarkable. Similarly the way in which they communicate with each other, despite the obvious difficulties, is very interesting. The author conveys all this to the reader by using different “voices” for each of the characters when they are telling their version of events and it is an effective tool.

However, the book was not without its problems. I found the start was so slow that I nearly gave up. Although it did improve as it progressed, I was quite a long way through the book before I really felt invested in the story and there were quite a few places where it seemed to drag. All in all I think it was too long. Also, although I understand why the author used different “voices” for each character (overall to good effect), I did not find it easy to read in places and it all got a bit much to take at times.

In retrospect, I think that this was a very clever book and an excellent debut novel. However, I am not sure that I would whole-heartedly recommend it.as I did not find it particularly easy to read in places and found it generally too slow and too long.

I tried so hard to like this book, but after a week of picking it up and putting it down I finally had to concede defeat. I loved the idea of the book, but struggled to concentrate on chapters written from Jacob’s and Annette’s perspectives, which I found really challenging to read. I eventually lost interest in the story. Not one for me, I’m afraid.