MATTHEW HAWKINS applauds a psychotherapist’s disection of William Blake
The right to write
REBECCA LOWE admires a complex, multi-layered working-class novel whose heart is the writer's self-discovery as a poet
Swansea city centre
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New releases from Christina Alden and Alex Patterson, Odette Michell, Clementine Lovell
JOHN GREEN is fascinated by a very readable account of Britain’s involvement in South America
Strip cartoons used to be the bread and butter of newspapers and they have been around for centuries. MICHAL BONCZA asks our own Paul Tanner about which bees are in his bonnet
GORDON PARSONS acknowledges the authority with which Sarah Kane’s theatrical justification for suicide has resonance today
RON JACOBS welcomes a timely homage to one of the IWW and CPUSA’s most effective orators
The Crazy Truth
Gemma June Howell, Seren, £9.99
THE CRAZY TRUTH is a working-class novel that remains true to its roots — unflinchingly honest to the point of brutal, yet also touching, funny, human and ultimately uplifting.
It tells the story of Girlo Wolf, born in 1984 into a world of pickets and poverty. Struggling with her mental health and the backlash of childhood trauma, she falls into a dark underworld of sex, drugs and alcohol. Driven by the stories of home, she finds freedom in writing and strives to become a poet, discovering that her words are a route to recovery and survivorhood.
Spanning four decades, Girlo’s story is interwoven with those of her mother and grandmother, making this a powerful tribute to the intergenerational struggles of working-class people.
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