The List of Suspicious Things
The Sunday Times Bestseller
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4.3 • 28 Ratings
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- £7.99
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- £7.99
Publisher Description
***THE NUMBER 3 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER***
HAPPY PLACE BOOK CLUB FOR APRIL
A BEST DEBUT OF 2024 BY BBC, RED, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
‘Such a fresh and interesting voice. You'll cry and you won't be able to stop reading’
MARIAN KEYES
'Such a beautiful story about friendship, community and family and secrets and what’s going on underneath'
ZOE BALL
'Gripping and moving'
GUARDIAN
'To read it is to feel that little bit better about life'
ELIZABETH DAY
‘A touching paean to lost innocence and the comfort of friendships’
THE TIMES
'A beautiful mystery with heart'
ROB RINDER
'This is a heart-warming book'
EMMA HEALEY
'A gorgeous, page-turning book'
I PAPER
'A wonderful story'
FEARNE COTTON
Yorkshire, 1979
Maggie Thatcher is prime minister, drainpipe jeans are in, and Miv is convinced that her dad wants to move their family Down South.
Because of the murders.
Leaving Yorkshire and her best friend Sharon simply isn't an option, no matter the dangers lurking round their way; or the strangeness at home that started the day Miv's mum stopped talking.
Perhaps if she could solve the case of the disappearing women, they could stay after all?
So, Miv and Sharon decide to make a list: a list of all the suspicious people and things down their street. People they know. People they don't.
But their search for the truth reveals more secrets in their neighbourhood, within their families - and between each other - than they ever thought possible.
What if the real mystery Miv needs to solve is the one that lies much closer to home?
THE PERFECT DEBUT NOVEL TO DISCUSS IN BOOK CLUBS
***READER REVIEWS***
'Left a lump in my throat and a hole in my heart'
'A book I won't forget for a while'
'A beautiful and emotional debut that I know will stay with me for a long time'
'A superb look at childhood, at growing up, at starting to see the world around you'
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Jennie Godfrey’s debut novel is set in her native Yorkshire in 1979, where Margaret Thatcher has just become Prime Minister and the Yorkshire Ripper is still at large. In her author’s note, Godfrey calls the book a tribute to the victims and survivors of Peter Sutcliffe—and what a powerful tribute it is. Eleven-year-old Miv, as terrified by the murders themselves as she is the prospect of being forced to move away from home, takes it upon herself to solve the killings, which for Miv feel increasingly close to home. As a character, she is a thread of lightness that runs through a novel that handles its multiple heavy themes carefully and beautifully. Amid a bleak backdrop, Godfrey’s writing is so warm and poignant, capturing Miv’s enduring innocence at what was a time of abject horror for Yorkshire and the whole nation.
Customer Reviews
Just wonderful!!
I read approx 50 books a year and haven't actually reviewed one in such a long time but for this I will make an exception. What a wonderful, beautifully written story. I got so swept up in the characters and wanted so badly for Miv to catch the ripper that I could barely put it down! Absolutely 10/10 would recommend !