Ginger and Me - Elissa Soave

[Mister Hobgoblin]

I loved Ginger and Me. Really loved it.

 

In the prologue, we meet Wendy, a 20 year old bus driver, sitting in a cell in Polmont Young Offenders Institution. Something has gone wrong and it seems there might have been some stalking of a writer called Diane - Wendy's solicitor tells her she doesn't seem to understand how much trouble she is in. 

 

Cut to one year earlier, and Wendy is a lonely young woman. Her mother has died, Wendy has inherited the house and money, and her only regular visitor is her social worker. It is clear that Wendy is different and, in particular, she seems to take people literally all the time. She cannot understand sarcasm, untruth or ulterior motives. She is childlike in many ways, not least her overwhelming optimism, but she is also clearly not stupid. It is tempting to try t0o diagnose her, but that would diminish her character. 

 

And Wendy, inspired by her social worker, decides to create a social life for herself. She decides to become a writer and signs up to a local writing group; and she forms a friendship with a teenage tearaway called Ginger - who has long ginger hair and a troubled homelife. 

 

The relationship with Ginger is the heart of the novel. From the position of a loner, Wendy finds herself cast in the role of mentor. The love she feels for Ginger straddles an awkward boundary between romance and substitute parent. Both Wendy and Ginger are deeply impressionable, and pull one another in new directi0ns. It is complex, dangerous and often heartbreaking. 

 

The writing comes as a comic relief. Wendy has a misguided feeling of superiority over her fellow writers in the group, instead becoming obsessed with a local writer by the name of Diane Weston. Wendy follows Diane through Twitter, through public events, and ultimately through personal encounters. Diane is a brilliant creation - a parody of a mediocre, middle-class Scottish writer feigning working class origins and claiming to be the voice of an unheard majority. Yet she wears floral prints, has a house full of tacky European souvenirs and walls decorated with reproduced art. Her sense of horror at the intrusion of Wendy into her life is quite exquisite. 

 

The story meanders a bit, and there is some reliance on repeated foreshadowing of dark things to come. This could feel clumsy, but I will give it a pass as representing Wendy's excitement at telling her story. There are some moments along the way where the reader might have to work a bit to suspend disbelief, but it does pay off in the end. 

 

I suspect there are some Easter eggs for those who know the Scottish writing world. A name check, for example, for James Kelman who, unlike Diane, actually was a voice of the working class and who, like Wendy, worked as a bus driver. And there is a reference to the smoky eye that must surely be a reference to Eleanor Oliphant. I am guessing there are many others. 

 

Finally, a word on the audiobook. I 'consumed' this novel through the Audiobook version and the narration was simply fantastic. The wide-eyed optimism was captured beautifully - so too the tone as Wendy impressed herself or amused herself. I am sure this added an extra dimension to the work. 

 

S0 Ginger and Me, along with Tunnock's Teacakes, comes highly recommended. 

 

*****