It's the summer of 1981. You're stuck in semi-derelict hotel on a tiny island off the coast of Devon. You're 16 years old and there's nothing to do but dream and wait for Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" to come out, until a ginger stranger arrives, stinking of antiseptic.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
‘If you ever despair that young British female writing is only concerned with marriage, men and weight problems, you just need to pick up one of Barker's books to reassure yourself that all is not bland…She writes of the comic and sometimes sinister surrealism of ordinary people's lives, and the results are books to make you wince, gasp and laugh out loud. The latest addition… is a sharp, deft account of teenage frustration’ Independent‘The pages are alive with arch metaphors, apt similes, puns and riddles…A challenging evocation of that strange, magical, bewildering period between a child and reaching adulthood’ Financial Times‘At times comic and whimsical, sometimes sad and occasionally grating, ‘Five Miles from Outer Hope’ is always fresh, original and tightly written’ The Times‘It’s a first-love, rites of passage novel, refreshingly free of rose-tinted sentiment…by the way, it’s also very funny’ Literary Review‘This novel, which cleverly sidesteps the traps of earnestness and seriousness, could well be read as a sort of literary tonic for enervation and grumpiness, the latest welcome despatch from Barker’s determinedly perverse and ungovernable imagination’ Guardian
--This text refers to the
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Silly & Naughty - Good Combination!,
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This review is from: Five Miles from Outer Hope (Paperback)
This is a funny and strange family/coming-of-age novel narrated by a sixteen year old girl. Do not, however, think this qualifies as a YA book. This book contains strong language and sexual content. Lots of it.
There are numerous pranks, moments of angst, literary gimmicks and a noirish feel to this book. Barker places us in the midst of a family that under an ordinary setting would certainly be described as dysfunctional. However, there is nothing ordinary about this group. Living in a no longer operating hotel on an island off the coast of England, the entire family (parents included) is in need of growing up. Of course, for such a need to be fulfilled, someone(s) would have to actually try to act like an adult. The arrival of a mystery guest of the father's really gives the story a focal point. The interplay of the characters is 'real' within this setting - and this interplay is the meat of the book. Barker's effort is both gritty and hilarious. The sparse writing style fits right in with the pace and action of the story. Enjoyable all the way through.
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