I picked this up at the Ulysses Bookstore in Hampton a while back. I asked for a recommendations and found it hard to choose between the two on offer so I bought both. Mad Mabel turns out to be a good choice. I was told she was local to that area so that worked well for me, I do like to support local authors.
We alternate between Mabel at the age of 81 and Mabel in her youth. We begin to understand why she is so good at being on her own, except for her good friend, Daphne. It’s interesting how Daphne is rarely there when things happen to Mabel, but always turns up later.
Mabel didn’t have a good youth. A father with issues never makes for an easy childhood. And we see all of that through her eyes. And we see how the children at school make fun of her and how that actually feels. And if I say too much more about the ‘why’ behind all of this it’ll be spoilers. But her life changes when her aunt, Cess, and her aunt’s good friend, Ness, decide they’re really going to look after Mabel. I’m not suggesting they take her away from her parents, but with her parents going overseas for lengthy trips it’s quite easy to be the one who is always there for her. And when she’s brought a copy of Anne of Green Gables from the library.
One of the things I love about this book is the way it introduces polio. We see it quite casually, as it used to be. We get details such as people dying, people in wheelchairs, and everything closed for weeks on end such as public swimming pools and libraries. It almost reminds me of Covid, except it was in the 1950s and not in the 2020s.
I loved the writing in this book, I really felt as if I was back there in school with Mabel, or in Kenny Lane during her later years. The way Hepworth describes these people I really feel as if Mabel has not even tried to make friends, but they do end up friends after Ishaan’s death. And after Mabel decides to be interviewed about her life and ‘tells all’ for two You-Tubers.
This is an emotional book, I can’t say otherwise. There is more than one death and Mad Mabel is implicated in all of them. Did she do them? Hard to say until you’ve read the book, I’m not using the word ‘spoilers’ again. Promise.
Is it odd to read a book such as this set in my home town? Totally and absolutely. Books such as this are always set overseas, in England or America, but to have one set here, in Melbourne, totally flummoxed me. It didn’t feel like Melbourne, it felt like any other book set in the northern hemisphere. As it turns out I’m quite happy with that. On the other hand I’d be quite happy to be able to feel Melbourne in the book.
There was one partial sentence which grounded me, it made me feel normal. I figured, if this sleeping position is in a book then I’m obviously not the only one to sleep like this. Page 243 in case you’re interested ‘head at the foot of the bed, feet on the pillow’. Although why I slept with my feet on the pillow and not underneath it is beyond me.
Do I recommend this book? Unreservedly. It’s well written, there’s a really good flow to it and it kept me guessing all the way through. Will I read more books by Hepworth? If they’re anything like this one I’d be happy to.