Book Review: Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller
In Summary
Rating 4 stars
Genre: Fiction
Publication date: 23/03/2021
Number of pages: 304
Keywords: fiction, dark, family, secrets
Content warnings: contains descriptions of death and economic struggles
Format: paperback, e-book, audiobook
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller, Costa Novel of the Year 2021
The Review:
An unsettling read; The Costa Novel of the Year for 2021 takes the reader to the outskirts of society, exposing deep-set family secrets and the kindness of strangers.
Jeanie and Julius are 51-year-old twins who have lived their whole lives at home with their mother; isolated on the edge of society in a run-down cottage, with no fixed income and being mostly self-sufficient from growing vegetables in the garden and looking after chickens. It’s the only life they’ve known so when their mother suddenly dies from a stroke, the shelter she had created for them is broken and family secrets begin to be exposed.
The twins are poorly educated, having skipped a lot of school; they don’t have a bank account. At the start of the novel, they don’t even have electricity and they have the impossible task of notifying and registering the death of their mother without a phone or transport during heavy snowfall. The novel then follows them working out the details of their lives; the impact this death has on them and the help they need from others around them.
There are a number of elements of this book that are unsettling to the reader. The cottage they live in is damp and rundown, there’s no electricity and Fuller vividly describes the food going off in the fridge with Jeanie imagining pouring the off milk into the tea she makes for someone. Their economic situation is upsetting: when Jeanie is driven to the registry office in the next town by their mother’s friend, she’s asked if she can contribute to the parking cost. Jeanie has £3.54 in total, all the money she has in the world and removing 50p from that wouldn’t impact most people but for Jeanie it’s a huge proportion of all she has. She has to make tough decisions between food and other home essentials, mentally considering which products could be used for multiple chores, such as washing up liquid serving to clean dishes, clothes and for washing. There’s a grotesque moment when the wife of the wealthy farmer whose land their cottage sits on comes round just days after their mother’s death demanding rent arrears be paid or they’ll be thrown out, a moment juxtaposed between the description of Jeanie and the farmer’s wife’s outfits.
Claire Fuller does however give us moments of joy - Jeanie finds joy in tending her garden and here’s where the reader gets brightness and colour in the novel. The twins also sing together, using the music to work through their grief and they’re persuaded to perform at the local pub where there’s a glimmer of what their life could be. There’s a fun laugh out loud moment when a neighbour dances round her chicken singing I Feel Like Chicken Tonight to a bewildered Jeanie who, growing up without a television or these kinds of meals, doesn’t quite understand what is going on.
Their mother, Dot, had instilled a belief in the twins that they should not rely on handouts but the book serves as a lesson in being able to ask for help when it’s needed as there’s always someone out there who will be there when the need is great enough, showing that even those who are virtual strangers will step up. There’s a power that parents can have over their children: keeping lifelong secrets; hiding health issues and lying to them and however good the intentions, the truth will always come out.
In summary, Unsettled Ground is a unique story but not a happy one. It’s dark, vivid and melancholic but very well written and engaging. This would make a fabulous book club recommendation as there are many talking points and a lot to discuss about this novel. I’m looking forward to reading more by Claire Fuller.
The round up
Standout Quote: “The different lives they could have lived are too big to comprehend.”
Read if: you enjoy standalone stories about lives on the outskirts of society, and stories about deep set family secrets.
Similar books: other novels by Claire Fuller include “Bitter Orange” and “Swimming Lessons” - I’ll be adding these to my wish list!
Last impressions: Unsettled Ground lives up to its name; it’s an unsettling novel in its descriptions of those on the outskirts of society and how vulnerable they can be, but there are moments of joy and this book is deserving of the accolades it’s received so far. It highlights the importance of neighbours and the kindness of strangers in desperate times.
Written By Louise Mortimer
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