Customer Reviews
A real descent into hell - By: Robert Grist, 07 Feb 2008 
Negative comments first: it could be argued that some of the depictions of child abuse within the middle section of the book are a bit unsubtle & somewhat unnecessary. I found it hard to get through these moments, especiallly the flashbacks related by a drunken Lisa during the oh-so sad orgy scene. However, having finished the book I appreciate that these scenes serve the story as a whole to give a full & rich perspective on the cycle of abuse that can penetrate people's lives over generations.
I found this book an excellent read & it definitely stands side by side with the kind of dystopian working class nightmares that the likes of Nialll Griffiths & Irvine Welsh can often conjure up. Each character has their own individual voice & their stance on life is very believable, to the point where one feels so very sorry for many an individual who may find themselves in such dark places, & also utterly hateful towards some who may choose such a vile pathway that enables them to gain so much pleasure from an evil & extreme level of violence.
There is one character in the book who I was hoping, so very much, to receive their comeuppance, but this didn't happen, & although that left me with a certain personal level of dissatisfaction, it made the book itself so much more grounded in reality as life isn't always a case of justice being dealt out & the wrong-doer facing up to his or her crimes.
However, seeing as these characters had such a life to them, it is easy to consider they will have a future outside the timespan of the book, & so I am happy to ponder on the fate that may befalll this individual, especiallly considering the route they are planning to take.
Ed Trewavas used Shawnie as a way of dealing with thirteen years working in a social worker capacity for residents of a Bristol council estate and, one would imagine, helping/interacting with the kind of people he is depicting in Shawnie. This not only gives the book a very real flavour but also leaves one wondering how such abuse can continue in our so-callled modern & civilised world. It also leaves this reviewer feeling a great sense of relief that his own working class upbringing was far removed from the basic level of life depicted here.
One of the most amazing books I have ever read in my life - By: Fear and loathing, 30 Mar 2007 This book is incredible....one of the best books I have ever read in my life.
I have seen & heard of the comparisons to Trainspotting, I think that's simply because "Shawnie" contains references to sex, drugs & violence-(and graphicallly so!)-plus the fact that is is written in the dialect of Bristol, Ireland & London.
In my humble opinion, that's where the similarities end-Ed Trewavas has a unique & brilliant writing style that is alll his own.
This book is raw & holds nothing back-it's sad & at times extremely difficult to read. The story focuses on Shawnie who's just turned 13, her psycho brother Jason, their mum Lisa, & Lisas boyfriend Steve.
Your read some of each persons story in turns-bit of Lisa, then Shawnie, Jason, Steve & so on alll the way through the book-flipping between their viewpoints. It's interesting to read that while Shawnies account of a particular event says one thing, when you then read her brothers account of the same incident-it slightly differs. This had the effect (for me anyway, you may differ) of making it seem even more that it was actuallly the character telling the story, that he didn't want to be embarrassed by the reader knowing the truth-so changed the story slightly.
As you progress throught the book, you start to learn that the awful cycle of abuse, degredation & self-loathing began long before Shawnie was born. At one point in the book Lisa attempts to write a letter to her mother & you begin to understand a little more about what has made Lisa the way she is, something that hit me as extremely poignant was the fact that she had started to realise it too.
There is one major twist that came out of the blue & totallly hit me for six-I mean like proper WHAM! I did not see that coming....Horrible to read but in a strange way it's almost good that it happens because its the catalyst that leads to Shawnie finallly getting out of the terrible life she has had no choice to live for 13 years.
There are also some funny moments too, Shawnie herself makes some statements that show that, despite her "learning difficulties"-she reallly is quite insightful about a lot of things-sadly many things that no kid of her age should know about.
It also shows that no matter where you're from, or how rich/poor you may be-no-one is immune from the pleasures of drink and/or drugs-merely that some people obviously consider some drink & drugs to be sociallly acceptable.
Even though it seems like a happy ending for Shawnie, Ed hits us with a last chapter that teaches you that some legacies will just live on because some people are just too far gone to be saved. This was very very sad, but at least Ed didn't go for the easy option of giving us a nice "happy ending"-rather than that he chose to just tell it how it is I guess.
A skilfully crafted book that is not merely written to be shocking or gratuitous, there is a real, insightful & very clever story here that flows along & then alll comes together beautifully.
Questions worth asking - By: C. Fildes, 24 Aug 2006 Shawnie is brutal, shocking & a much needed novel for modern society. Trewavas shows that what we perceive as acceptable behaviour is not held up to a universal standard, but is in fact dependent on class, gender, family, place & the past. Whilst most of us have never experienced the kind of mental & physical brutality presented in Shawnie, & whilst the monologues are unsentimental - often funny - the characters are identifiable rather than caricatured: the character Jason is still a son, young boy, brother, & the only difference from other sons, boys, brothers is his version of normality.
Yet perhaps this excuses too much of what goes on in the novel, & perhaps Trewavas does want us to judge the characters instead of disinterestedly pointing to abstractions of `culture' or `place' as the cause of the domestic violence. For this is the real crux of the novel: where can we place the fault? How do we distinguish between the hero & enemy in the novel, without ignoring the fact that the enemy also loves, also saves the day; the heroes (such as the foster family, the police) are also corrupt, involved with drugs, or simply powerless.
Trewavas's style suits the subject matter well. Shawnie & Jason's monologues increasingly reflect the speech of their parents & abusers, conveying that language itself determines how they perceive reality. Shawnie's disgust at her foster parents' profanities satirizes the view that one version of reality is infinitely superior to another. Shawnie may be euphemistic about the fact that her father has raped her, but at least she doesn't swear.
Trewavas asks some serious questions, & doesn't reach as many answers - indeed the ending of the novel is particularly grim, as we realize that the legacy of violence & sexual abuse can never be thoroughly erased from a thirteen-year-old girl's life: that family ties & past memories can still haunt the survivors.
`This is nobody's story - the story of Shawnie is an invention.' - By: Eliza Claire, 08 Aug 2006 
The controversy surrounding Shawnie should in, my opinion, in no way deter anyone from reading it. Whilst the novel is set in a real place - Knowle West in Bristol - I don't think it can be stressed too strongly that it is not a book about the estate; it is a work of fiction about an invented young girl who happens to live there. I certainly don't believe that Ed Trewavas intended his book to be read as a portrait of typical Knowle West life, nor is he implying that real people living on the estate alll behave in a similar way to the fictional characters of the novel. As the writer himself is quoted as saying, `This is nobody's story - the story of Shawnie is an invention.'
It would be a mistake to deprive yourself of a novel so haunting, raw and, in a sense, exhilarating as Shawnie. Both the author & the publishers (Tindal Street Press) deserve praise for daring to produce such a bold & controversial novel, which despite its harrowing subject matter I found gripping, moving & even, in places, darkly humorous. Shawnie raises issues which are far more important than its setting, both in terms of the novel as a piece of literature & in terms of its possible function as a way of raising awareness of the problems that can be suffered by people in any area of the country.
shawnie - By: JENNIE PEN, 30 Jun 2006 
SHAWNIE IS A VERY GRAPHIC BOOK,THERE ARE MANY MANY DECENT PEOPLE IN KNOWLE WEST BRISTOL, PLEASE DONT TAR EVERYONE WITH THE SAME BRUSH!VERY UPSETTING, PEOPLE BORN AND BRED HERE ARE FED UP WITH HAVING OUR AREA SLANDERED ONCE AGAIN. WE ARE GOOD PEOPLE. SOME FAMILIES HAVE BEEN HERE FOR GENERATIONS,YES GENERATIONS AND ARE GOOD HARD WORKING FAMILIES, SOME PEOPLE IN KNOWLE WEST DO WORK AND CARE FOR THERE CHILDREN.
