From the first sentence, ‘My name is Billie Morgan and I am a murderer,’ Denby captures the reader and takes them into the life of a 46-year-old gift shop owner who is trying to live a quite life in Bradford and doing her best to forget the past.
Billie was a biker chick and member of the Devil’s Own gang but after a life of self destruction that ends in murder, she now tries to make amends but the past has a way of catching up with her when she least expects it.
There is a sense of doom throughout the novel, as it seems that Billie was predestined to a life of brutality. Yet despite the drugs, the bad influences, and the fact that you can see where the character is headed, Denby has given the reader a sympathetic character.
Denby’s real talent is in the conversational tone she creates throughout the novel. As Billie relates the events up to the murder you find yourself ‘hearing’ her accent and feel as if she is sharing the story only with you.
Although the novel is quite dark I don’t think it succumbs todespair. This novel was short-listed for the Orange Prize and it was well deserved. I hope more readers will discover Joolz Denby and her works.
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