Review: So emotional!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 10, 2012
Daisy Madigan's Paradise has to be the most potent novella I've ever read. I read the Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw, which is where I first met Daisy, but nothing prepared me for the wrenching sadness in this short story that tells us how Daisy ended up living in a cemetery.Life takes a dramatic downward spiral for Daisy the moment her mother dies. She ends up homeless but not before meeting the wonderful and darling Jack. Jack is her only friend in the whole world and doesn't judge her for being homeless. It's such an important aspect to this story, to feel the desperation and fear that being vulnerable and hungry is. Now at Christmas time while you're spending money buying stocking fillers and an excess of food, spare a thought for people who steal apples, who sleep in the cold, who are threatened by trouble makers who get their kicks out of picking on the destitute vagabonds with no one to run to and nowhere safe to hide from cruelty or the weather.Oh I cried! I sobbed reading this, my eyes are all red and swollen, it spoke directly to my heart and the pain of the dead, of death, the emotional side of it, this book is saturated in this emotion and you can't escape it if you have a heart. If there's a lesson in this it's that the most generous of people often have the very least to give. Spare a thought for everyone who is alone, or homeless and hungry, remember to include them in your budget in this season of excess.Beyond this intense emotion is the story of how Daisy finds her place in this world. Is it sad that I envied her? She sings like an angel and is never alone because of the ghosts she has to keep her company, and that kind of friendship I thought she was very lucky to have.This is a delightful read, one that packs a lot into a very short space, it has a fast pace, my interest never waned, and it gives much appreciated insight into Daisy and her place in future novels. So much happens in this that I could easily have read more and now look forward very much to Daisy finding a new paradise with her new 'extended family'. Gosh, I don't know what else to say because I'm still feeling very emotional after reading this, my heart literally aches like I have a bruise on my chest.Brilliantly emotive writing! And I absolutely adored Jack!