This is the story of a woman brave enough to risk it all. She understands better than most the things that we keep hidden. She comes to learn how the heart is usually stronger than the head. And she cannot help, despite her better instincts, being drawn into a sexually charged and highly volatile relationship. True Things About Me is a brilliantly written novel of survival that reveals simultaneously the strength and vulnerability of one ordinary woman. With great honesty and unexpected humour, Deborah Kay Davies takes us deep into the mind of her unforgettable protagonist and in doing so asks us to consider seriously what we might sacrifice for our desires.
True Things About Me: A Novel
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Glinting with pitch-black humour, Davies’s razor-edged style has a lucidity and ferocity that makes much ‘literary’ prose sound like soggy mush.” —BOYD TONKIN, "The Independent
"“Deborah Kay Davies . . . is a writer born to awaken us . . . Her gift is that of nuanced compassionate revelation. Here, the almost-incomprehensible is made palpable. The ostensible fact that it’s told to us by the victim makes it more remarkable still. Repelled, yet attracted, the reader is helpless. Nothing prurient is indulged in. Here and there, flit sprites of humour, making the darkness more intense. If darkness has brilliance, this is it.” —TOM ADAIR, "The Scotsman"
About the Author
Deborah Kay Davies started writing and publishing when she was a mature student attaught Creative Writing at Cardiff University. Her first collection of stories, Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful, won the 2009 Wales Book of the Year Award. She has also published a collection of poems, Things You Think I Don't Know.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
An utterly irredeemable bad-boy, the intoxication of wanton sex, the desperation of waiting and wanting, and the consequences of enthrallment - these elements infuse this riveting, erotic story of a nameless thirty-something female processor of claims [hereafter, Ms X] whose life is completely transformed after the happenstance meeting of a claimant. Perhaps the protagonist is not "everywoman," but the author manages to make the hunky dude's command to "take off your underwear" in a parking lot only shortly after meeting and her compliance seem hardly implausible. Little background is provided for the reasonably attractive Ms. X other than her being single, childless, an employee, and a homeowner.
The anonymity of Ms. X is undoubtedly no accident; clearly, the author's suggestion is that most any female given the right circumstances could be "swept up" into such a harmful relationship. Ms. X's life rather quickly unravels: her job performance suffers when she even bothers to show up; she becomes resentful of her friends' concerns; and her health and mental well-being are continually assaulted by the erratic and abusive nature of her dealings with this mysterious man, who frankly shows no hesitation in using her, even to the point of stealing. In stark, unrelenting language the author shows a woman lost in her own home - staring at herself in a mirror, sleeping on the floor by the front door, just waiting and suffering. Despite intentions to terminate all of this that are vaguely given voice to, she invariably surrenders to his rough, degrading handling each time he unpredictably returns.
The author's is a pretty hard look at various conventions, practices, and superficialities of life. Ms. X, despite the deterioration of her life, finds herself more and more rejecting convenient normality. But she does slowly understand that only she can rid herself of this horribly injurious element in her life.
This book is no mere gratuitous look at a woman who has suddenly gone off the deep end. It is an unremitting look at the forces of desire and attraction in a world where the possibilities of connection are often fleeting and are not to be unhesitatingly squandered; the alternative is a life of boredom and convention, though little realized by those trapped in same. It would not be all that surprising to find that many would take the risks of Ms. X to experience the same ecstasy.
The anonymity of Ms. X is undoubtedly no accident; clearly, the author's suggestion is that most any female given the right circumstances could be "swept up" into such a harmful relationship. Ms. X's life rather quickly unravels: her job performance suffers when she even bothers to show up; she becomes resentful of her friends' concerns; and her health and mental well-being are continually assaulted by the erratic and abusive nature of her dealings with this mysterious man, who frankly shows no hesitation in using her, even to the point of stealing. In stark, unrelenting language the author shows a woman lost in her own home - staring at herself in a mirror, sleeping on the floor by the front door, just waiting and suffering. Despite intentions to terminate all of this that are vaguely given voice to, she invariably surrenders to his rough, degrading handling each time he unpredictably returns.
The author's is a pretty hard look at various conventions, practices, and superficialities of life. Ms. X, despite the deterioration of her life, finds herself more and more rejecting convenient normality. But she does slowly understand that only she can rid herself of this horribly injurious element in her life.
This book is no mere gratuitous look at a woman who has suddenly gone off the deep end. It is an unremitting look at the forces of desire and attraction in a world where the possibilities of connection are often fleeting and are not to be unhesitatingly squandered; the alternative is a life of boredom and convention, though little realized by those trapped in same. It would not be all that surprising to find that many would take the risks of Ms. X to experience the same ecstasy.
17 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an odd book. It is well written and well presented. But at the end of it I am still none the wiser about why the book was ever written, or who it was written for, or what point it is making.
We have no idea why the unnamed female narrator falls for the man she meets so quickly and so completely.It seems to be on looks only, which seems unconvincing- a man perhaps, but women usually are looking for more than good looks. And women usually do their homework on a man better than this woman does.
The woman becomes besotted with the man, but the relationship is one sided- he takes advantage of her sexually, materially and then robs her and then beats her up. But she rather makes it all too easy for him to do this to her, and although anyone can make a mistake once, if they keep repeating it they are basically volunteering. We have no idea why she would want such a relationship, or why with this particular man. The male character is a crude sketch- a criminal with good looks- but we learn next to nothing about his background or motivation. He behaves according to type. Stereotypes do not make good characters.
The female narrator is a repulsive character with no redeeming features. It is a mark of the author's skill that she is so clearly described. But reading of one woman's extreme selfishness, her ability to wreck her job and her friendships and relationships is just sad. The book is called "true things about me" but actually the defining feature of the female narrator is that she never acknowledges the truth of her situation. She talks about "wanting to grow up" but actually is more juvenile by the end of the book than the beginning.
I am struggling to think who to recommend this book to. Maybe if you are a psychologist who enjoys the arcane workings of odd behaviour you might enjoy it as a case study.
But if you are wanting a good novel to read then I would suggest that most readers would spend their time and money more effectively if they look elsewhere.
We have no idea why the unnamed female narrator falls for the man she meets so quickly and so completely.It seems to be on looks only, which seems unconvincing- a man perhaps, but women usually are looking for more than good looks. And women usually do their homework on a man better than this woman does.
The woman becomes besotted with the man, but the relationship is one sided- he takes advantage of her sexually, materially and then robs her and then beats her up. But she rather makes it all too easy for him to do this to her, and although anyone can make a mistake once, if they keep repeating it they are basically volunteering. We have no idea why she would want such a relationship, or why with this particular man. The male character is a crude sketch- a criminal with good looks- but we learn next to nothing about his background or motivation. He behaves according to type. Stereotypes do not make good characters.
The female narrator is a repulsive character with no redeeming features. It is a mark of the author's skill that she is so clearly described. But reading of one woman's extreme selfishness, her ability to wreck her job and her friendships and relationships is just sad. The book is called "true things about me" but actually the defining feature of the female narrator is that she never acknowledges the truth of her situation. She talks about "wanting to grow up" but actually is more juvenile by the end of the book than the beginning.
I am struggling to think who to recommend this book to. Maybe if you are a psychologist who enjoys the arcane workings of odd behaviour you might enjoy it as a case study.
But if you are wanting a good novel to read then I would suggest that most readers would spend their time and money more effectively if they look elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
What does it feel like to be an addict, to operate completely opposite to what you know is good for you, to give in wholly to the irresistible, and, finally, to lose your identity? Davies provides answers. The addiction here is self-destructive, compulsive sex. The end is like that of any soulless addiction. Why would a woman go down to a car park with an attractive stranger for brutal sex and then sacrifice her life to empty gratification? The answer is a more common question: why pick up a syringe, run a line of coke, or guzzle a bottle? In other words, ask an addict. Compelling prose, dark but often humorous, and decidedly offbeat. For those who enjoy psychological drama and who recognize not every situation leads to redemption. If you like delving into the minds of the off-kilter among us, you might try my novel, I KILLER, about the psychological breakdown of a serial killer
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Compellingly written with unexpectedly beautiful prose amidst the...
A convincing narrative of a young woman (from my perspective) having a nervous breakdown. The book asks more questions than it answers and remained with me for days after I... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Koo
Mentally Ill
The protagonist in this book is mentally ill. She stays with an abusive man and ruins her life for him. The book is pretty bad, I read it because it was reviewed in the Times. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Raizel the Raisin
Why Write This?
This book is simply awful. I'm two thirds finished and I'M DONE! It's 10 % erotic and 90 %
boring or really disgusting. Read more
boring or really disgusting. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Richesnow
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