Review: Great Read
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 11, 2013
This is an anthology comprised of five short vignettes about Alan Davidson's heroine, Annabel.  Annabel is a 13 year old cauldron of creativity, volatility, intelligence, melodrama and kindness. She lives in a very small and dull village and attends a very mediocre school (where, needless to say, she livens things up a bit).  On the plus side, she has a very supportive, if eccentric, family, and an enduring best friend called Kate who follows her everywhere, hanging on to her every word.It is difficult not to like Annabel as we are taken through her various adventures, aided by friend Kate's narration. She is full of life, caring, funny and often quite wayward, and she doesn't always seem to care too much for the consequences of her actions - this may not be the best message to send out - but  there is also a remarkable sense of honesty about her and an inherent understanding of what is right. She is also generous of thought and does help others a great deal.The stories in A Friend Like Annabel are original, funny and sometimes touching; my favourite being Annabel and the Duckling. To say they are well-written would be superfluous. In Alan Davidson's writing, the plots are tight with just enough narrative, and all come full circle.  Through careful thought on the author's part, the reader is given a complete understanding of all the characters, main and secondary, without being overly wordy, filled with clichés or leaving the stories path. Excellent stuff!This review is also published at [...]