The central theme running through this story is that 'the grass is not always greener', although Jane Berry does her very best to convince herself and everyone else that she comes into contact with that by moving her
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The Safest Place is narrated by Jane, some would say that she is a typical unreliable narrator, that she does her best to convince the reader that every action that she took during this story was for the benefit of her family. Looking a little deeper, it is clear that Jane is an incredibly truthful narrator, she is telling her story as it really was, and not as she wanted and even prayed for it to turn out. Jane is truthful and honest and acutely aware of her failings.
Suzanne Bugler has created an ordinary world, yet her extraordinary writing transforms the everyday happenings into a dark, forbidding story that builds intensely page by page until the unthinkable happens. Jane, despite her constant justification for her behaviour, is an honest, if unpleasant character whose life goes completely out of control once she has got her wish and the family move to the country. The author draws characters with ease, from the flighty and somewhat dangerous new friend Melanie, to the shy and tormented son Sam. David the husband is a shadowy figure throughout the story, the reader never really gets to find out just what goes on in his mind, he is portrayed as a sad, almost downtrodden guy who just wants to please everyone.
There is something about this dark story about ordinary, everyday people that is utterly compelling and very hard to put down. I found myself almost screaming at Jane at time, her behaviour is so frustrating and the reader knows that things are just not going to work out, even if the character pretends not to. The shock though, for the reader, is that the incident that finally breaks Jane is totally unexpected, and never quite resolved.
This is a short novel at just over 300 pages and becomes more compelling as each page is turned. Most certainly my favourite book by Suzanne Bugler yet.
Suzanne Bugler lives in south west London with her husband and two sons. She is the author of This Perfect World, and The Child Inside and has also written two novels for young adults: Staring Up at the Sun and Meet Me at the Boathouse.
Find Suzanne on Facebook here. Follow her on Twitter here
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