Karen Campbell (1) (1967–)

The one thing I want to come away with after reading this book is to be kinder to people.

Rocked by a terrible accident, homeless Kelly needs to escape the city streets of Glasgow. A rare moment of kindness and a lost engagement ring conspire to call her home. As Kelly vows to reunite the lost ring with its owner, she must return to the small town she fled so many years ago.

On her journey from Glasgow to the south-west tip of Scotland, Kelly encounters ancient pilgrim routes, hostile humans, hippies, book lovers and a friendly dog, as memories stir and the people she thought she'd left behind for ever move closer with every step.

Oh how, I loved this book! It gave an insight into homelessness and addiction that I have not seen before. I listened on audiobook for the @another.chapter.podcast read along and the Scottish accent really added to the atmosphere.

The story is slow and shocking in measures. It showed how Kelly's fortunes could turn by how people treated her and also how easily someone could slip into homelessness. It showed how kind people can be when they have no reason to be... and shouldn't we always have reason to be. And it showed how dogs really can save our lives.

Kelly's story is not an easy one. Abuses are hinted at that we have to fill in the blank and Kelly's reactions to certain advances are obviously born out of experience and fear but at her heart she has kept her kindness and I found myself routing for her again and again.

A top read for 2023 so far.
… (mehr)

From the very beginning I had a hard time sympathizing the the main character, Justine, and I never really connected with her for the rest of the book. I have read other books about women who run away from a dangerous, bad man, but Justine seemed to shut everybody out a bit too much to keep the story fluent. Also the story felt kind of hokey, and the characters didn't change much, even when the situation changed.
The parts I did like was the description of the community, the Scottish landscape and the archaeology. Yes there was some wonderful writing, but the book could have used another major edit.… (mehr)

Picking up after the events in The Twilight Time, Anna Cameron is away n New York trying for a UN job; and Cath and Jamie are trying to get on with normal life. But Jamie, now an Authorised Firearms Officer has a bad day at work and shoots a fifteen year old girl in the heat of a mismanaged operation. He is convicted of murder, partly due to the officer in charge arse covering, and has to go to prison. Very powerful describing the prison life and the day to day struggle to cope with having taken a life, and Cath's struggle to have a day to day life. As before, messy and moving, with convincing people.… (mehr)

A deeply involving book, although I can't say I really enjoyed it. It was grim, messy, gritty and felt very realistic. Could you say you wanted to know any of the characters? Maybe not, but if you did, you know you've met a character.
The story starts with Anna, a new sergeant in charge of a bolshy team, including an ex-lover. She gets off on the wrong foot with them all except Jamie, too posh, too ambitious, too aloof to fit in. Prostitutes on the Drag are being attacked and having their faces slashed, adn in a tenement, an elderly Polish WWII veteran is killed. Jamie's wife Cath, ex-police herself, and suffering from post natal depression is drawn into the story after bumping into Anna and finding that actually, they don't hate each other.
No-one is white and no-one is black; everyone has some sympathetic and some offputting characteristics.

I think it's a book I will remember for quite some time.… (mehr)