- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (5 Mar 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747577994
- ISBN-13: 978-0747577997
- Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.4 x 3.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 979,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Tell Me Everything
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Product Description
Review
'I galloped through this - couldn't stop once I'd started … Molly has such a strong and original voice, the writing's so spare and yet the message so complex … spiky, sparky, pithy and deep' Kate Long
'An ambush of a novel: characters who engage and then promptly pull the rug out from under your feet, plus enough wit and insight for two novels' Michelle Lovric
'Sarah does something quite rare, I think, which is to write engagingly (even grippingly) about the emotions, but in a way which is formally experimental, often quite daring…however dark she becomes the material is always handled with such a light touch, and is never predictable, always inventive' Andrew Cowan
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.Review
'I galloped through this - couldn't stop once I'd started ... Molly has such a strong and original voice, the writing's so spare and yet the message so complex ... spiky, sparky, pithy and deep' Kate Long 'An ambush of a novel: characters who engage and then promptly pull the rug out from under your feet, plus enough wit and insight for two novels' Michelle Lovric 'Sarah does something quite rare, I think, which is to write engagingly (even grippingly) about the emotions, but in a way which is formally experimental, often quite daring...however dark she becomes the material is always handled with such a light touch, and is never predictable, always inventive' Andrew Cowan
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The cover is a worry. It looks like one of those gruesome real-life abuse tales called 'A Stolen Childhood', or 'Please Daddy, Don't' , something provocative like that. And at first it seems that this might be a fictional equivalent. Molly is a young runaway who has left home after creating a scandal at home. One afternoon she finds herself telling a teacher at school about her father, but the story runs away with her and after embellishing the truth she is surprised to see herself taken seriously and the huge consequences it has for her family. So this is not going to be a standard narrative. Molly is telling the tale of her own life and she is not a reliable narrator.
Molly is offered a job and a room by Mr Roberts, the owner of a stationary shop. There is one condition; that whilst she is at the top of the ladder arranging supplies on the top shelf she tell him stories about herself (whilst he peeps up her skirt). She becomes friends with Miranda who works in the salon. As Miranda primps and preens her they flatter one another with compliments about their film-star looks, 'Oh you!' they coo to each other. The local librarian Liz provides Molly with recommendations, starting with romance fantasies and eventually erotica. And then there is Tim, Molly's boyfriend, who seems to be someone very important, possibly even a spy. But as I said this is a novel about the tales we tell ourselves:
People can come from (and go to) nowhere. The homeless Molly Mr Roberts took home with him...was a monster he created himself with every question he asked...And that Molly was now a shared production. Miranda looked after my exterior appearance while, over in the library, Liz and her books were taking care of the inside thoughts. Even I had a part to play, reshaping my memories with every story I told Mr Roberts up that ladder...it was only when I was in the park with Tim that I had to think about being the real Molly.
But even from Tim she hides the past. The question of what really happened at home and the figure of Molly's father have a stalking presence in this novel which unsettles as the plot moves along. Molly is surrounded by people as damaged as her and the character of Tim is particularly unnerving with his tales of being able to 'hear' conversations through walls, his talk of training and missions. It is hardly surprising that Molly should have such a fractured ensemble around her but it is this I think which means the novel just fails to satisfy. There is very little foundation for this collection of tales to stand on. Salway is a prizewinning short story writer and clearly a talented writer. The fragile mental state of Molly is brilliantly evoked by the deluded conviction with which she speaks and the confusion she feels at the gaps in her memory. Where the novel works is as a story about storytelling, the ability we all have to create whatever narrative we need for different people and, in Molly's case, to survive. Like a modern day Scheherazade.
Molly is offered a job and a room by Mr Roberts, the owner of a stationary shop. There is one condition; that whilst she is at the top of the ladder arranging supplies on the top shelf she tell him stories about herself (whilst he peeps up her skirt). She becomes friends with Miranda who works in the salon. As Miranda primps and preens her they flatter one another with compliments about their film-star looks, 'Oh you!' they coo to each other. The local librarian Liz provides Molly with recommendations, starting with romance fantasies and eventually erotica. And then there is Tim, Molly's boyfriend, who seems to be someone very important, possibly even a spy. But as I said this is a novel about the tales we tell ourselves:
People can come from (and go to) nowhere. The homeless Molly Mr Roberts took home with him...was a monster he created himself with every question he asked...And that Molly was now a shared production. Miranda looked after my exterior appearance while, over in the library, Liz and her books were taking care of the inside thoughts. Even I had a part to play, reshaping my memories with every story I told Mr Roberts up that ladder...it was only when I was in the park with Tim that I had to think about being the real Molly.
But even from Tim she hides the past. The question of what really happened at home and the figure of Molly's father have a stalking presence in this novel which unsettles as the plot moves along. Molly is surrounded by people as damaged as her and the character of Tim is particularly unnerving with his tales of being able to 'hear' conversations through walls, his talk of training and missions. It is hardly surprising that Molly should have such a fractured ensemble around her but it is this I think which means the novel just fails to satisfy. There is very little foundation for this collection of tales to stand on. Salway is a prizewinning short story writer and clearly a talented writer. The fragile mental state of Molly is brilliantly evoked by the deluded conviction with which she speaks and the confusion she feels at the gaps in her memory. Where the novel works is as a story about storytelling, the ability we all have to create whatever narrative we need for different people and, in Molly's case, to survive. Like a modern day Scheherazade.
Format:Kindle Edition
This is definitely a book to read in a day. A book about stories and story-telling, it carries you along with a narrative which blurs the line between fantasy and reality, creating a sense of intrigue as your own imagination starts inventing all sorts of possible explanations and outcomes. The ending is left open to the reader's interpretation, which can be seen as either incredibly frustrating or perfectly fitting.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
What a quirky, different story this is. Sarah Salway's story is so different from other more down-to-earth books that it feels like you've been picked up and whirled around dizzyingly at a height. It is a breath of fresh air amongst plodding stories that tell essentially the same story. With weird characters - who somehow seem familiar - and a serendipitous storyline, you never know what will happen next, but you want it to turn out well for them all none-the-less.
I haven't finished it yet, but wanted to put down what I thought as soon as possible. Now back to the book.
I haven't finished it yet, but wanted to put down what I thought as soon as possible. Now back to the book.
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