A review of the novel “Sleep Before Evening”

“Sleep Before Evening” tells the tale of 17-year-old Marianne’s slide into drug addiction following the death of her beloved grandfather, Eric. It is an exhilarating ride through bereavement, family breakdown and teenage angst, which in the main is expertly handled. Magdalena Ball has the rare ability to chronicle sad or harrowing events without producing a grim, depressing or bleak novel.

However, there is the occasional stylistic hiccup. For example, on p. 102: “He looked so young with his hair falling into his eyes and his metallic musky smell and full lips opening and closing like they did on his harps, that she found it hard to concentrate” is awkward and difficult to take in. Also, on p.65, I wonder whether a real 17-year-old would say: “You’re all so self-centred, your generation; you, Dad, Russell. You do what you want without responsibility.”

Having said that, Ball is excellent at using everyday details to increase the power of her words, but without sounding banal or contrived. For instance: “the fingers on her left hand squeezing Eric’s in time to the ambulance’s flashing light” (p.12) and, on p.24, “What a sad fate is yours, imprisoned in your shell”. The latter is particularly effective -- poignant even --since, although those were Eric’s own words from years before, they now apply to Eric himself, trapped in a persistent vegetative state.

Comparing Marianne’s corrupting boyfriend to a vampire (p. 106) is a good touch as it suggests he is draining her of her vitality and maybe her chances in life. Yet vampires have their vulnerabilities too (light, for one) and this hints that Miles does too. He isn’t trying to drag her down, he just does it without meaning to. All this from just a few lines – incredible.

On p.42, “The step into the cold, anonymous New York air represented a transition from youth to maturity” is an inventive and effective use of symbolism.

With so much to praise, it is difficult to know what to leave out of this review. Suffice it to say that it was with a genuine sense of regret that I finished the last page and closed the paperback. I think I’ll be drawn back to this book again and again.

Buy from:     http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sleep-Before-Evening-Magdalena-Ball/dp/1479107913/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397659264&sr=1-1