"Gloria merely wants to eat chips or drink a coke in a pub, but Jack often rants about the end of the world. He is waiting the summer out, waiting the city out, counting down to zero. For Jack, the attraction of Gloria is that he can do what he likes with her. He may not be obviously motivated by sex, but he certainly craves control."
"How do you show Gloria's limited view of the world without making the book itself simplistic? Initially, the text feels slightly jarring. The sentences are short and their structure is simple. Apps has chosen the third person, but the text often seems to push towards first person."
"We understand that for Gloria language is less about meaning and more about finding comfort in rhythm and pattern. The novel takes us inside the life of a person whose world would generally be closed to us. Also, moments of beauty elevate her experience, giving the reader a wonderful perspective."
Lucy Apps's debut novel centers on Gloria, a 19-year-old with a learning disability living in east London during summer 1999. Gloria spends her days in parks and streets, vulnerable to theft and abuse, seeking simple pleasures like chips and Coke. She forms a friendship with Jack, a troubled young man waiting for the world to end, who is drawn to her because he can control her. Apps employs deliberately simple sentence structures and unconventional grammar to reflect Gloria's perspective, creating initial stylistic challenges for readers. As the narrative progresses, these techniques reveal how language functions for Gloria through rhythm and pattern rather than conventional meaning. The novel provides intimate access to a marginalized life rarely represented in literature.
#literary-fiction #disability-representation #coming-of-age #narrative-technique #vulnerability-and-exploitation
Read at www.theguardian.com
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