That girl from nowhere (by Dorothy Koomson)

(Amazon UK link)

I do like Dorothy Koomson’s books. She writes strong characters with interesting problems, covering relevant contemporary issues in the context of an excellent story. However, a few years after I read each of her books, I’ve entirely forgotten both the people and the plot. It’s a decade since I first read ‘That girl from nowhere’, and despite quite a dramatic story-line, I didn’t remember it at all. 

But I love re-reading books which I know I liked the first time round; it means I know it’s going to be a good experience. So I was a tad surprised at the prologue to this book, which involves a conversation between an unknown narrator, and an elderly person who is sick and wants to die. I had no idea what the context was, or what it would lead to.

In the first chapter, we meet Smitty - Clemency Smittson - who narrates the book. She’s a young woman who is buying a flat in Brighton, and talking to the estate agent. Her mother is with her, and we quickly learn that while Smitty is black, her mother (who adopted her) is white. We also learn that her adoptive father - whom she adored - died fairly recently, and that Smitty has just split up from a long-term relationship with Seth.

The book is written in several time-frames, each one with the month and year immediately above so it’s not too confusing. The present-day situation sees Smitty and her mother move into the flat, and we learn that Smitty’s job - and passion - involves ‘re-loving’ jewellery. She takes gemstones, or old-fashioned bracelets or lockets, and redesigns them into more modern pieces. She sometimes creates jewellery from scratch, too, using stones she has found. She’s clearly very talented. And it’s impressive that this is clear without her being in any way arrogant or boastful.

One of Smitty’s visits is to a care home where she meets a chatty woman with an extensive collection. This woman says that one of the carers is Smitty’s image, but Smitty doesn’t believe this until she actually sees Abi. She’s never tried to trace her birth family; her mother has been quite negative about the idea. But a lot of things add up… and so, Smitty eventually meets her genetic relatives, most of whom had no idea that she even existed. 

The flashbacks mainly involve Smitty’s meeting with Seth, and her friendship with Seth’s good friend Dylan. She rather fancied Dylan at first, but he never seemed all that interested, though he tried to prevent her going out with Seth. Other flashbacks take us further into the past; she was adopted as a baby, so has no memory of anything before living with the parents whom she loved very much. On the whole she was content, although at times she felt a bit out of place; this wasn’t helped by her self-centered cousin Nancy who took pride in being a ‘real’ member of the family. 

It’s very much a character-based novel, with friendships, jealousies, secrets and more. The writing is excellent, and the pace is exactly right for me to want to pick the book up at any odd moment. The characters are pretty clear - the only ones I sometimes confused for a moment were Dylan and Smitty’s new friend Tyler, who owns a high class coffee shop that she visits regularly.  I think the problem is that the names look rather similar. 

I thought the insights into adoption were very interesting, particularly when the parents and child have different coloured skins. I’m not sure I entirely believed the number of issues that could have occurred in the past, or the quite unpleasant and controlling nature of the matriarch of Smitty’s birth family. But when reading fiction, somehow it all feels all too real. I could identify somewhat with the terrible dilemma that Smitty has to deal with, and also her terrible sense of betrayal, though I’m pretty sure I’d have initiated a conversation rather sooner than she does. However, that wouldn’t led to such a well-crafted tense novel.

The only thing that jarred for me is that one intimate encounter, quite near the end of the book, is given a lot more detail than I like to read. But it’s easy enough to skim that kind of thing. I thought the rest was excellent, and since I had no memory of it, I didn’t know where any of the storylines were going. Some threads are left a tad open at the end, but that’s okay. 

Recommended if you like women’s fiction with some thought-provoking issues involved.

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