An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins - blogtour
Today is my stop on the An Unusual Boy blogtour. I am delighted to have the opportunity to introduce you to Julia and her wonderful son, Jackson. Here is their story...
Summary
Meet Jackson - a very unusual boy in a world that prefers 'normal'...
Julia Curtis is a busy mother of three, with a husband often away for work, an ever-present mother-in-law, a career, and a house that needs doing up. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Milla, has fallen in love for the first time, and her youngest, Ruby, is a nine-year-old fashionista who can out-negotiate anyone.
But Julia’s eleven-year-old son, Jackson, is different. Different to his sisters. Different to his classmates. In fact, Jackson is different from everyone. And bringing up a child who is different isn’t always easy.
Then, one Monday morning, Jackson follows his new friend Digby into the school toilets. What happens inside changes everything; not only for Jackson, but for every member of his family. Julia faces the fight of her life to save her unusual boy from a world set up for ‘normal’.
An extraordinary boy. The mother who loves him. The fight of their lives.
Bestselling novelist Fiona Higgins returns with a heart-stopping, devastating, but ultimately uplifting story about loyalty, love and forgiveness.
Review
I was totally drawn into this story and really identified with Julia. She is a mum who is trying her best to keep going, even when everything is falling apart around her. She makes mistakes, she gets things wrong, she doubts herself but every decision she makes is to protect her family.
I must admit that there were times that I had to put this incredible book down. I could sense where things were going and just wasn't ready to go there too. An Unusual Boy is a story of how quickly and dramatically things can go wrong when we do not see the whole picture, when we make assumptions and hear what we think we are going to rather than the words that are really being said.
Jackson is different, and sometimes that can seem difficult. He often struggles to express himself and lashes out because no-one seems to understand him. He knows that his family love him, but his relationship with his dad is fraught with misunderstandings and disappointments. Jackson has the most incredible memory but often can't find the right words. I loved Jackson, his sisters and his mum right from the beginning. The author made me care and then made me cry with sadness and rage.
I really like that the perspective changes throughout, between Julia's and Jackson's. Julia shows us just how hard but how incredibly rewarding being a parent is and Jackson gives us his unique perspective of the world.
An Unusual Boy is brilliantly written, intriguing, full of realistic characters and has a storyline that will break your heart. A must read, but be prepared to cry!
Author Bio –
Fiona Higgins is the Australian writer of several bestselling contemporary novels including The Mothers’ Group and Wife on the Run. Her work has been widely reviewed, translated internationally, and described as ‘page-turning domestic melodrama for the social media age’. She lives with her family in Sydney and her first book for Boldwood will be published in October 2020.
Photo courtesy of Luisa Brimble
Thank you to Rachel for inviting me to be a part of this blogtour and Boldwood Books for gifting me a digital copy of the book to read and review.
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