Gillespie and I by Jane Harris

When the Orange Prize long-list came out, I was ambivalent about whether or not I would read Gillespie and I, especially as I hadn't read the author's debut novel, The Observations.  But then in the comments section of my long-list post a few people mentioned that they had heard it was supposed to be very good.  So I checked it out from the library and it sat languishing in my room until last week when I suddenly thought "Hang on!  The short-list is coming out on Tuesday, I better read Gillespie and I!".  And now that I've finished it, all I can say is that I'm kicking myself for not reading sooner and you all need to get hold of a copy of this book, asap!

This review is going to be tricky to write because Gillespie and I is one of those books where the less you know the better and knowing too much would completely ruin the reading experience. It starts in London in 1933 where elderly spinster Harriet Baxter is writing a memoir about the artist Ned Gillespie, who she met during Glasgow's Great Exhibition of 1888.  Subsequently she became close to the whole Gillespie family as they went through a traumatic and scandalous time.

And that's all I'm going to say!  Harris completely fooled me as I thought this book was going to be a cosy Victorian read but believe me, it's anything but.  Harriet Baxter is one of the best examples of characterisation and unreliable narration I've come across in a long time.  This is a book to make you question what you think you know about the characters and their motivations, to unsettle you.  It's quite a large book but I was completely glued to it, could not put it down, desperate to see if my suspicions about Harriet were correct or not.

So you're all just going to have to trust me on this one as I don't want to spoil anyone's reading experience - this book is amazing.  Go and grab a copy and get started!

Source: Library
First Published: 2011
Score: 5 out of 5

Read Alongside:
1. Notes On A Scandal by Zoe Heller - No similarity in plot but the narrators are quite alike.  The story is about a female teacher having an affair with a pupil and relies on an older colleague for support.
2. Purge by Sofi Oksanen - Again, the similarity is with the main character and the way she is portrayed by the author.  This one is a hard hitting story of sex trafficking and rape in rural Estonia.