A review by andrew61
Black Car Burning by Helen Mort
5.0
Helen Mort was new to me as a writer until I heard her on a recent BBC radio 4 book programme talking about Sheffield.
Her poetic roots perfectly suit this story in which the landscape of the city and the surrounding Peak District are as much a character as the three other individuals who tell the tale.
Between each narrative section by the two younger women and one older man are short pieces told from the perspective of areas as diverse as the local rock formations ,which are central to the climbing theme that also informs the story, to Hillsborough ( another theme in the book) , and local roads , rivers ,hills moors, and streets. All those short pieces reflect on how the landscape is impacted by its inhabitants.
The book is also about how the Hillsborough tragedy affected Sheffield as a city and the people who were involved through the voice of the man and also those with whom he has contact.
This was a book that I really enjoyed as it told a story of an area and city I know well and in its mixture of hard but beautiful countryside and a city harshly impacted by social and economic changes reflect the lanscape and fate of the north of England as a whole over the last decades.
This will definitely be worth a reread.
Her poetic roots perfectly suit this story in which the landscape of the city and the surrounding Peak District are as much a character as the three other individuals who tell the tale.
Between each narrative section by the two younger women and one older man are short pieces told from the perspective of areas as diverse as the local rock formations ,which are central to the climbing theme that also informs the story, to Hillsborough ( another theme in the book) , and local roads , rivers ,hills moors, and streets. All those short pieces reflect on how the landscape is impacted by its inhabitants.
The book is also about how the Hillsborough tragedy affected Sheffield as a city and the people who were involved through the voice of the man and also those with whom he has contact.
This was a book that I really enjoyed as it told a story of an area and city I know well and in its mixture of hard but beautiful countryside and a city harshly impacted by social and economic changes reflect the lanscape and fate of the north of England as a whole over the last decades.
This will definitely be worth a reread.