Victoria Park - Gemma Reeves

 

So pleased to be on the Blog Tour for this book today. 

Description 

A playful, lyrical novel about otherness, change, and the gap between generations in a London community. 

Mona and Wolfie have lived on Victoria Park for over fifty years. Now, on the eve of their sixty-fifth wedding anniversary, they must decide how to navigate Mona's declining health. Bookended by the touching exploration of their love, Victoria Park follows the disparate lives of twelve people over the course of a single year.  

Told from their multiple perspectives in episodes which capture feelings of alienation and connection, the lingering memory of an acid attack in the park sends ripples of unease through the community. By the end of the novel, their carefully interwoven tales create a rich tapestry of resilience, love and loss. 
 
With sharply observed insight into contemporary urban life, and characters we take to our hearts, Gemma Reeves has written a moving, uplifting debut which reflects those universal experiences that connect us all. 

Review

This book drew me in with the writing, which is almost poetic at times. It's not a chick lit view of the world, you need to take time to read and savour what goes on.

This is a book about diverse lives - nothing out of the ordinary happens - except everyday life. It's the way it's written that is special. It documents a life before the pandemic, a masterpiece of observation of life that goes on everyday somewhere. It's a social commentary that needs to be preserved and read again from time to time.

The book goes through each month of the year and begins with the lives of Wolfie and Mona. It becomes obvious fairly quickly that Mona has dementia, unfortunately she isn't with Wolfie, she's out and about oblivious to the modern day world. 

Each month of the book we meet new people and some of the people we've met before reappear in the story. Overlaps and connections are made by the reader as we realise how everyone in the book fits together. 

The end of the book was bittersweet for me. This story is a powerful one and you need to be prepared for some realistic writing about acid attacks, comas, dementia and life.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to Random Tour Things for a copy of the book to review.

Gemma Reeves is a writer and teacher who lives and works in London.