The Legacy (by Sue Jones)

(Amazon UK link)

Sue Jones is a member of the writing group I belong to. She wanted to publish her novels and short stories through Amazon rather than spending possibly years trying to find a suitable publisher. I was privileged to read ‘The Legacy’ in advance, as I helped with the formatting; my husband designed the cover and dealt with the uploading to KDP.

It’s the story of a troubled family. Mandy, the mother, holds them together but her husband Gary has become boorish and rude. They have four sons, and Gary gets on well with three of them. Teenage James is like his father, but quite sensitive too. Ten-year-old Sam adores animals, and six-year-old Luke is outgoing and noisy; he adores his older brothers. But what draws their father to them is that they are all keen on football.

Eight-year-old Tom, however, does not like football. He’s different from his brothers - perhaps he has ADHD; it’s not mentioned. He can’t sit still or concentrate on anything much, and for some reason almost everything he does irritates his father.

The story opens when Mandy wakes from a pleasant dream, and then manages to knock over and break a lamp. She steps on some of the shards, and when she slams the bathroom door she manages to shatter the mirror too. It’s not a good start to the day. And she’s totally fed up with Gary, who is almost like another child.

Mandy works for an elderly lady called Elizabeth. Elizabeth lives in a very large house; her husband was a musician, who died in his eighties. The house is really too big for her, but she has no children, and feels too old to move. Mandy has worked for her as a cleaner and housekeeper for about a year as the story begins, and the two have become friendly.

Tom gets in trouble at school. While Gary is just frustrated, Mandy longs to find something that he’s good at, that will enable him to succeed. It turns out that Tom is musical - surprisingly so, although his father is unimpressed when he discovers this…

It’s the story of a growing friendship between Tom and the elderly Elizabeth, of the unfolding of his unexpected talent. It’s also the story of the breakdown of a marriage. While I normally hope that marriages in novels are going to be salvaged, Gary is such an unpleasant person that I wasn’t rooting for him at all.

The writing is good, the pace just right for the story, and the characterisation excellent. Perhaps Gary is a tad caricatured - he seems to have no redeeming features at all - but Mandy, Elizabeth and Tom are all three-dimensional.  While some of the conversations are perhaps a tad long-winded, they all feel believable.

There are some poignant, even sad scenes, some violence - though not gratuitous - and some ‘strong’ language. But it’s not excessive, and is part of the character of the people concerned. So I wouldn’t suggest anyone under the age of about fifteen read this book. The children (particularly Tom) are important to the plot, but it’s more about Mandy’s struggles in an unrewarding marriage.

Definitely recommended if you like women’s fiction with quite a bit of depth.

Review copyright 2020 Sue's Book Reviews