Nothing is Heavy by Vicki JarrettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Maybe I was just in the mood to read this. To be honest, I rarely delve into this sort of fiction, not because I don't like it, but just because I have so many other goodies to tuck into ahead of it.
But I bought - and decided to read - Vicki Jarrett's "Nothing Is Heavy" because it was on a 3-for-2 promotion, and I just took a fancy to it. I think it's her debut novel, in which case it's all the more exceptional. Set in Leith, Edinburgh, it tells the intertwined tale of two women, neither of whom has much going for them; one works in a fish shop, the other as a lap-dancer. It manages to be funny, gripping and poignant all at the same time, and Jarrett tells all this gritty story in a very feminine voice which emerges as a cross between Joanna Trollope and Irvine Welsh (it is Leith, after all).
Perhaps the plot is a bit too neatly resolved for some tastes - I know more a few readers who feel cheated by fully-resolved endings - but I reckon most readers will like the twists and turns at the end. By the way, it would make a great arthouse movie - watch out for a scene near the end involving potatoes, for instance, and you'll picture what I mean.
So this wonderful little book (it's only a little over 200 pages, it won't take much of your time) comes highly recommended. Then again, maybe I was just in the mood.
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