Complex characters keep slow-burner on right lines
Two Wrongs
Attending university is an odd experience.
I was the first in my family to go and it was very much encouraged by my school teachers that further education was the only way to make it in the world. Do I agree with that? No, I don’t. Of course my journalism degree has led me down the right path. I am a journalist after all. But can I wholeheartedly say that the education I received and the life I experienced on campus have made an enormous impact? I’m not so sure.
Life skills and experience out of education are invaluable. And university culture can be extremely toxic.
At my alma mater for example, a group of boys from one of the sports teams was filmed singing sexist and derogatory songs on a public bus. For us students, particularly female ones, it was insulting, infuriating and embarrassing. I don’t recall there being any major consequences for those involved either.
And of course with the #MeToo movement that exploded into our lives not that long ago, it really makes you wonder what on earth is going on behind the walls and doors of institutions we’re supposed to place all of our trust in.
These are the types of thoughts that came to my mind when reading this week’s column spotlight, Two Wrongs by Mel McGrath.
A pretty dramatic incident has happened on Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. One girl jumped and then another followed suit which starts a chain of really shocking events all involving students from Avon University. Central to the story is Nevis Smith, her mother Honor and Professor Chris Cullen, and the story is told from their perspectives.
Honor is utterly terrified her daughter is next so she’s doing her bit to investigate what’s been going on. But as she looks for clues, she stumbles upon a link to a dark secret in her own past that she’s kept from Nevis. How far will she go to protect her daughter and right the wrongs done to her family? That’s the million-dollar question.
As intriguing as the story first appears, pacing is a bit of an issue here. The bridge scene sounds like it should be tense and dramatic, but it’s a little slow and misses the mark. This feeling continues in the writing in the first part of the book too. It’s done in a sort of impersonal reporting style and you might want to give up reading, but this changes as the book progresses and the plot becomes much more engaging.
From then, the story takes massive paces and really gets into its stride and you become aware of the cover-ups, manipulations and insane secrets. And it’s all bubbling up to the surface. The positives with this read are the characters. It’s not easy to create compelling people on page, I’ve read a few flat characters in my time, but Nevis, Honor and Cullen are each so complex and worth the words on paper.
The link to the university is where this book peaks and helps to back up the pressure on the students and it adds an interesting element. And the ending packs a punch here too.
See how you go with this one.