Customer Reviews
Hypnotic Reading - By: Ardent Reader, 16 Jun 2006 
The book's cover & title both appealed to me, but I was already keen on reading it because I had loved Unsworth's first book, "The Seahorse". They are very different but equallly compelling novels. "The Seahorse" is about the slow transformation of a grown-up mother-daughter relationship while "Before We Began" is about how your peers influence you while you're waiting to grow up. Unsworth is an brilliantly powerful writer, with a flair for touching on thoughts & feelings that you would have sworn no one ever had but you. Both books grabbed me from the start & held me in a kind of dream state alll the way to the end. It's been a couple of years since I read the first, but much of it remains quite vivid. This one resonates in the same way. After a while, I wasn't reallly sure what I'd read, or whether it had happened to me. There's something wonderful, & comforting, & interesting about that, actuallly.
A very local memory - By: , 07 Apr 2006 
I requested this from the library after reading a newspaper review & I wasnt disappointed. I was interested because I know Cambridge well. The trouble is that when you know a place or an era, you do notice tiny inaccuracies more...however that works both ways -I was intrigued by one particular reference to the girl brought up with cats ...this was a real case in the area in the 70s, I met that girl during the course of my work then & will never forget her. I guess her story must have made an impression on Tania Unsworth as well!It certainly gave the story a touch of strange reality for me. A good read.
transported back to a time when I still dreamed - By: chloe trevor, 20 Feb 2006 The cover reminded me of the girls I hung out with when I was attending boarding school. Didn't expect this author to be capable of transporting me back to those days of silly love & crazy moments that represent the most cherished times of my life , (with the exception of raising my two stapping young lads) The book touched me & since I read it, I have gottenin touch with my old chums & we're dumpin our hubbies for the night & are going to try & recreate the old magic of that time. I have to also say that plucking strings of my heart so effortlessly as Ms Unsworth has done is pretty gosh darn hard to do & god bless her for that ability. BTW also made me understand many of the reasons I did stupid things as a virginal schoolgirl. maybe I can use some of the info to my boy's benefits. (Hah) thanks Mrs Unsworth for writing this book. kept me occupied on my long daily commute from brighton to london victoria, not an easy feet!
who is this author! - By: , 28 Jan 2006 I must say I was skeptical when I was asked to read this novel as I tend to stay away from what appeared at first glance to be a "stand by me" remake with the main characters being women. How wrong I was. This novel rewarded me with characters that are both real & reminescent of the mysteries that made the girls at my school both commonplace & priceless/unattainable. If I had only read this book twenty years earlier, I may have had a chance at the happiness by perhaps glimpsing the thoughts of these remarkable women & taking them to heart. slow in parts but well worth the read. Hard to say how autobiograpghical it is. supposedly she is somehow related to the guy who wrote holy hunger or something like that. She writes using an arsenal of deadpan humor & irony that is sorely lacking in writers of today. read it.
never wanted it to end - By: Tracy G. Callahan, 24 Jan 2006 Was first drawn to this book by the suggestive cover. Her 2nd novel finanlly finds ms unsworth a clear voice that speaks to our generation. Thought the structure of the novel is very unamerican & overalll plot is certainly less bubblegum & cotton candy as is a typical coming of age novel. However, her prose rings with honesty & captures the angst of that generation with perfection. The voice baffled me at first until I realized but it is reminicent of faulkner but with an originality that makes it a must read, she is truly barry unsworths daughter with his unique & joyously twisted perspective on the mundane world in which we live. Shortlist this one for a Booker.
