The First Day of Spring
NANCY TUCKER
(HUTCHINSON, 400 PP, £12.99)
Tablet bookshop price £11.69 • tel 020 7799 4064
This is the story of an eight-year-old child who is a killer. Its psychology is razor-sharp: it is Dostoevsky set in a primary school. The observed detail of the novel (a debut) screams the powerlessness of an utterly neglected girl to whom murder gives the feeling of being “basically God”. Converging narratives of child and adult explore the roots and bitter fruits of the killing. When her father is away in prison, Chrissie is told he is dead; when he comes back, she assumes that being dead is not for ever. Her single treasure is a marble he gives her. Her one consolation is a friend. This friendship is vital to the woman Chrissie is to become after her name is changed to Julia. Embracing as children, she and her friend become “one girl”; embracing in adulthood, they become “one woman”.
