Review: Wiping the Slate Clean
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 5, 2008
A pregnant mother and her thirteen-year-old son flee an abusive home to find shelter in anonymity. Fate leads them to the small village of the boy's deceased father and a flat provided by the housing council. When they find ominous messages scribbled beneath peeling wallpaper they make their first chore in the new home a paint-over of the walls. But the messages put fear into the boy while a unique cane carried by the lady from the council disquiets his mom. With that foreshadowing the author cleverly sets up a climate of foreboding that lets the reader know more dire circumstances will follow.The excerpt sadly ends here, but the synopsis of Coombe's Wood promises that there are secrets in the adjacent woods. This reader is eager to discover what those secrets are.