The First Day of Spring: A Novel

The First Day of Spring started out a bit gruesome, with the eight-year-old protagonist, Chrissie, killing a two-year-old little boy by strangling him. The book is about the neglect and rejection that Chrissie faces throughout her life. The chapters alternate between Chrissie’s past as a child and her present as a new mum named Julia who spent several years in a jail-type reform/boarding school.

The main character is very unlikeable as a child, but as the story unfolds, it is easy to understand why she turned out the way she did. Her own mother hardly feeds her so she resorts to stealing food and sweets and pushing her way into her best friend Linda’s home just so she can have a meal. I have to admit, some of the things that Chrissie does are quite gross, such as urinating in public.

Overall, the author does a great job of bringing her characters to life with vivid descriptions and dialogue throughout the book. It is a somewhat disturbing story that somehow does a one hundred and eighty degree turn by the end.