Customer Reviews

Ralph's Children (Severn House Large Print)

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Hilary Norman's novels range from pretty average quality wise to the masterpiece level booksGuilt, Twisted Minds, and Too Close. Ralph's Children is a sensational idea for a plot but to be honest the storyline never quite delivers. Too many pages are wasted getting to know two victims who become the victims near the end of the book. We really didn't need to get to know them at all, more encounters with beasts would have been better reading along the way. The interesting chapters always were around the children (who later become adults) and their game.

The plot of Ralph's Children revolves around a gang of orphans who live quite a boring life. One day one of them finds William Golding's Lord of the Flies on a bus seat. Having no other entertainment the children embrace the novel reading it chapter by chapter at night. They take turns taking on the personas of the characters in the novel and see the book as sort of their bible. On one such night a loser loner orphanage worker observes the children and wants to become a part of their bond. They reluctantly accept her to avoid being reported, but she grows to become their leader and takes on the persona of Ralph from the book.

The children fantasize about what it would be like to kill or punish the beasts that are in their lives. They turn this into reality by actually punishing and giving real life beasts their comeuppance, especially to those who do other creatures, especially children harm. They take this vigilante game into adulthood and decide there are two beasts who must face the ultimate punishment.

An all right read but not as good as you are hoping for after reading the plot synopsis.