When I was Ten by Fiona Cummins
Pan Macmillan, 2020. ISBN: 9781509876945.
(Age: Adult - late adolescent) Stunning in its impact, this is one
of the most disturbing books that I have read. It takes us into a
world of familial abuse that is shattering for the family members
and devastating in terms of their capacity to face life. Attempting
to live 'normal' lives, when a young person has experienced daily
bullying, beating, punishment and violence, mostly by the father, is
a tremendously difficult task. Even more difficult is to experience
such a life when the abuser and bully is a parent. We are positioned
to grasp the horror for the children as their father's actions and
words cut like a knife, crumbling any sense of loving family that
they may have managed to hold on to. The creation of a hell-on-earth
for children cannot possibly enable them to mature normally, nor
does it allow them to be 'normal' adults, and this is indeed the
scenario for a particular family in this novel.
When the father goes too far in his criticism, supported by the
mother, in a particularly dreadful episode of his violence, the
daughters are banished to the cold, dark shed for the night. Along
with his disgusting and shocking accusations, one sister finds that
she can no longer bear any more of his violence, and she kills both
the mother and father, stabbing them with a pair of scissors. In a
magnificent gesture that will haunt her life, the other sister
confesses to the murder and at that point the lives of both sisters
collapse. Years later, a television producer seeks to revive this
story and, having traced the sisters, the team move in on the story,
compelling a reaction. When we read about what their father did and
how the girls were treated, the only word for our response could be
absolute horror.
Well-written and gripping, this story emotionally draws us in to the
psyche of the sisters and the woman who befriends the innocent
sister, in an interesting reflection of the anger and violence that
is indeed part of the modern world, not only in the terrible actions
of the father, but also in the notion of a 'story' that is
discovered and used to make a 'winner' for the news media out of the
dreadful experience of others. This novel is disturbing, as Fiona
Cummins has constructed the narrative so that it reveals the reality
that some people experience. It is a gripping tale, mixing the years
across the connecting narratives, gradually including some of the
more horrendous experiences and actions, threaded throughout the
narrative. This brilliantly written novel would not be appropriate
for a younger child or early adolescent; indeed, I would recommend
it only for an adult or late adolescent reader.
Elizabeth Bondar