The Outcast: A Novel Paperback – April 14, 2009

This book is excellent. It deals with domestic abuse, people in denial, and families in dysfunction. It may sound like it's too hard to read and I admit there was a point I put it down for a minute before picking it up again (because the story and writing were so good) but I highly recommend it. The author writes so beautifully. I ached for some of the characters and yelled and shook my head in disbelief at others.

Overall good reading and well written. A little predictable in places, but a good read overall. Nice inner monologue pieces, some of the characters are a little bit like caricatures.

Upper-middle class setting in the 1950's in a small-town community in England.I was drawn into the book immediately. At the beginning, it was developing a little slow. But when the disappearance of the mother of Lewis the main character was presented, the story started to pick up.Lewis had a “dark” personality due to a tragedy he witnessed at the age of 7 with his mother’s “disappearance”. He does not talk much and mutters words when he should respond. His father, already remarried, does not know how to help Lewis, so he prefers to show no affection towards him. Lewis starts closing himself in his own world. Friends of his own community start seeing him as a “weirdo” and to some extent, bully him.As the novel develops, at age 12 Lewis has been ostracized by his community for being odd, he becomes an alcoholic about age 14, he starts to self-mutilate, he burns down the village church at age 17 years, and spent 2 years in jail for this.When he comes out of prison, no one comes to greet him, and with no practical skills and nowhere to go, he chooses to return to the small town that has been distrustful of him since his mother's disappearance a decade earlier. Secrets abound in Waterford, where social appearances are far more important than genuine love and respect, and Lewis' reputation as a pariah and his continued troubles at home and in the community, cause him to become an outcast.There was only one person who really understood him: Kit, a neighborhood friend who fell in love with Lewis. Right from the beginning she sees the good in Lewis and loves him. But Kit has her own tale of darkness, being an abused child by a crazy father, who was seen by his community as a very respectful family and church man. As tensions build, Kit becomes the only person who can communicate with Lewis.There is a lot of tension and Sadie Jones tells the story from various perspectives. We sympathize with Lewis and Kit as both stories are heartbreaking. By the last part of the book, the reader will feel a sense of hope and redemption for both Kit and Lewis.The only reason I did not give the book a 5-star review was because I was often momentarily confused by the dialogue of the different characters, often switching back and forth within the same scene being that the author does not identify who is “speaking”. It was hard for me sometimes to keep track of the characters themselves because they did not appear with different “voices”. But still, this did not affect my wanting to continue reading this page-turner.I would recommend this book for Book Clubs or any reader who has a troubled child or family member.

Brilliant book. Not, as one reviewer put it, "lush" writing, but spare, the "less is more" style, that conveys the repressive culture of the 50's in England, and the agony of its outcasts. As an old Brit, I remember those times. I was there! Looking forward to Sadie Jones' second novel.

An amazing study of the 1950's cultural suppression and WW II vetetans unresolved effects on his wife and sun. Domestic violence and how families keep it a secret. Finally, what it takes to recover. Easy prose with some cliche scenes, but the troubled boy steals your heart.

Even though the story as sad it was written very well, will check put other books by this author.

What a terrific book! I can't believe it is the author's first. Ranks with Barbara Vine and Graham Greene. Compelling portrait of claustrophobic family life in Surrey 1945-57 which nicely captures the flavor of the times (I remember the sight and smell of bombsites in London in the early 1950's and the grim postwar atmosphere). Characters are well-developed, dialogue is realistic and subtle, prose liquid and compelling, plot flows naturally from the characters. Can't wait for the author to write more!

This was wonderfully written in that as the reader, you felt that you the 'fly on the wall' of watching the boy's growth from emotionally neglected child, to rebellious teen, to hero for a young girl. This story highlighted the many secrets a town can hold and how child abuse can slowly destroy young lives if silence prevails.

I got fed up with reading books just because they were described as gripping thrillers and then turn out to be boring, boring, boring. This book is not of course a thriller but boy was it gripping. Not sweet and sugary romance either , but thank you Ms Jones, it was a gritty, impelling, write a review at 3.52 in the morning because you woke in the night and had to finish it sort of book. Well deserved winner of Costa award 10 years ago. So on to her next books now......

Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found this a very interesting book. Downbeat, yes, grim, yes. But it was a very engaging account of how a child can be stunted and even twisted by an unsympathetic, uncommunicative home environment. There were so many points along the way when Lewis was failed and misunderstood by those who should have listened to him. It could so easily have turned out differently for him because it is obvious that he is not bad person. Thankfully there is one person who realises that, but not every young person in similar circumstances is so lucky. Compulsory reading for all those who need to get inside the head of a difficult child/adolescent.

The OutcastMuch has been said about the bleak subject matter by other reviewers. Many reviews I have seen speak to the oppressive nature of the book, but I really do not see it that way. Yes it is not a story of romance in the classic sense, but it is enthralling and real in a way that is lacking in these conventional stories. The style is brittle and direct rather like the folk who inhabit the story.There is no denying this is not your normal women's fiction, the themes of alcoholism, domestic violence and self harm are effecting and Sadie does not stray from depicting them honestly and unflinchingly. The violence and misery behind closed doors is a prevailing theme and the claustrophobia of a post war small town is all the more heavy because of it.One might not understand the compulsion to beat another into submission or to inflict pain on oneself as the only means to release, and it is hard to relate to the remote and troubled Lewis, but when you take a step back and realise from where it stemmed, you suddenly realise just how strong he had to be to get through his childhood even in this way. His mother smothered by middle class snobbery and her developing dependence on booze to get through the day and his father remote through service in the war and his inability to break into the cocoon of co dependence set up by his mother as a defence against the world she despises. She unfairly created a life for Lewis that left him remote and then by leaving in such tragic circumstance, left him to inhabit it alone without giving his father a realistic way to reach him.He gets through, his coping strategies are limited, but he survives.It's not all bleak, the idea of Lewis provides comfort and succour for Kit, whose dark confinement behind the mask of social standing and respectability set up by her utterly repellant parents and the blameless but silently complicit elder sister is pierced by the sunlight when Lewis is around, the injustice his treatment by all gives her power of her own to suffer the town torments of violent chastisement and utter ambivalence to her presence the rest of the time. In the end her rebellions are for notice of any kind, but Lewis sees her. He sees her as she really is a child forced to confront the reality and cruelty of real life far too early.There are two people in this book who actually give compassion and caring without condition and it is the brief but telling actions of and Dr that keeps this book balanced.Not an easy read emotionally, but knowing that eventually two lost souls find each other and struggle to free themselves from what were horrendous situations is actually what ultimately makes this a story of redemption and satisfying. That we do not get a definitive happy ever after is actually very refreshing, we are free to imagine the ultimate resolution for Lewis and Kit and in my mind, they live a life grateful for each other and spent lancing the poison of their shared childhoods so that although scarred they heal entirely.BRIEF WORD: The BBC two -part adaptation was outstanding, wonderfully cast and evoking the feeling of the book entirely!

Before I bought this book, I had seen the first half of the televised adaptation and had found it extremely difficult to watch. I had seen it advertised on TV, but clearly hadn't been paying attention because some of the more shocking details of the main character's deterioration caught me completely by surprise. However, with only 5 days left until the TV airing of the second part, I decided to go for it and with some reservations, I bought the book. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoying it, reading it in 3 days. The book was so more adept at describing Lewis and his feelings, although I should point out that the TV version was an excellent rendition of the book. Losing his mother at the young age of 10 has a catastrophic effect on Lewis' life. Having been a very well loved child, Lewis finds himself with a father who has only recently returned from World War II and whom he hardly knows. To make matters worse, his dad discourages any displays of affection and consequently, Lewis retreats further and further into himself in an effort to deal with his grief. When his mother is swiftly replaced by a new step-mother, Lewis has nowhere left to turn for help. It reveals a great deal about his home life when Lewis realises that his stretch in prison was preferable to being at home with his dad and step-mother.The story is very well written and it deals with controversial issues like self harm and suicidal tendancies in a very matter of fact way. Although Lewis does some daft things in his desperation, I really felt for him throughout the entire book. I don't want to give too much of the story away, because it is a great read. However, I would like to say that Lewis was agonisingly slow to see a kindred spirit in his local community, but this little ray of hope was well worth the wait when it came along.

This is powerful stuff. It holds up a mirror and everyone will recognise some intense emotion, or complete lack of emotion, here- if not Sadie Jones is skilful enough to show us these dark places and implant them within the reader like a false memory, so that we can identify with Lewis (The Outcast), or Kit, or Elizabeth or even Gilbert or David...if not then the nice but ineffectual Alice, Tamsin..or Claire. How many women of that era could identify with Claire. We as readers or viewers cringe at he narrow nasty world of a village in the Home Counties in the 1950s. It is not funny, not a sit com. It damages children. It damages people. We see something of ourselves and are uncomfortable knowing if we are not the Outcast, we are the Casters Out.If you only read one seriously good book this year, this has to be up there on the short list.