24 in ’24 Challenge – Book 7″The Trouble with Goats and Sheep” by Joanna Cannon

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon is set in the long, hot summer of 1976 and its two main characters are Grace and her friend Tilly who are both ten years old. As it happens I wasn’t much older than these two girls during that amazing summer and I also lived in a small cul de sac of modern houses where everyone knew each other and gossip was ripe. I thought that the author got the details right and that the setting was well created.

Grace and Tilly are a bit alarmed by the sudden disappearance from the street of one of the neighbours and they try to find out what has happened to her by asking questions of the other neighbours. This works to various degrees and occasionally they find out other things which they weren’t expecting. The author also writes some chapters from the points of view of the adult inhabitants of the street and also there are some flashbacks to events nine years previously. You are slowly given all the information you need to work out exactly what has been going on and to uncover some secrets.

There’s a religious theme to the book in that Grace and Tilly decide to look for God in the street and become obsessed with the fact that the Bible divides people into goats and sheep. They want to know who is who and that’s not always as obvious as it first looks. There is also an incident at the end of the book when the whole street joins together in a “religious” experience.

I thought that the author depicted the environment and culture of 1976 quite well. I thought that the narrative by Grace was well done. I found the chapters from the point of view of the adults to be less successful although I understand why the author included them, as a whole book narrated by children would have been too much. I struggled with connecting the past stories with the more recent happenings and it took some time for me to unravel the whole story – I am not particularly fond of books where the reader doesn’t know what is happening for most of the story.

This is a very popular novel but it didn’t work for me. I have read and reviewed another book by this author (see here) and I see that I was equally ambivalent about that story. It seems like this author’s writing style is not to my taste but it is obvious that she is very successful and popular with others.