The Blurb
England,1976.
Mrs Creasy is missing and The Avenue is alive with whispers. As the summer shimmers endlessly on, ten-year-olds Grace and Tilly decide to take matters into their own hands.
And as the cul-de-sac starts giving up its secrets, the amateur detectives will find much more than they imagined…
My Review
My thanks go to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this book.
If you haven't read The Trouble with Goats and Sheep yet, then go get your copy right now and put at the top of your To Be Read pile!
I'm a little late to the game as this was published last year. It was a title I kept seeing everywhere, and I finally decided to discover what this curiously monikered story was about.
And it is such a delightful read. Set in the hot summer of 1976, being a child of the 70s myself, I found it to be full of nostalgia. From reminders of the old Nationwide programme to Kays Catalogues, it's a beautiful portrait of suburban life in the 1970s.
There are many fascinating characters depicted, but my favourite are the main characters, 10 year old Grace and her friend Tilly. Grace narrates much of the book, but some chapters are told in the third person POV by some of the adults in the story, to reveal more of the secrets a 10 year old girl would be unable to comprehend. It's a brilliant study of attitudes back then too; the general mistrust of anyone who appears a little different; and the uncomfortable embarrassment when an Indian family move into the street.
I loved the way Grace idolised the older girl Lisa, and tried to emulate her style. I think we all had that one person we looked up to and tried to be.
Grace decides she and Tilly are going to solve the mystery of the disappearance of one of their neighbours, Mrs Creasey. But first they have to find God, and they are having trouble locating him.
There's not much more I can say apart from go and read it!
You can buy The Trouble with Goats and Sheep from Amazon, Waterstones and other retailers.
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