Customer Reviews
ASTONISHING SPLASHES OF COLOUR - By: Ms. J. Manders, 08 Jun 2008 
Astonishing splashed of colour is a compelling read. The narative leads you along nicely & although the thoughts & ideas of the central charater may conflict with your own beliefs, they are illustrated in such a way as to startle you gently, rather than to shock you into disbelief. It's a wonderfully well written book, the language used is easy to get on with, like an old friend, & doesn't leave you searching desperatley for a dictionery to better understand a sentence! The characters are well rounded & the nature of their relationships with each other is well thought out & incredibly lifelike.
My only one complaint about the story is that some of the answers to the questions posed, are a little too conveinient. The ending also fails to live up to expectations - in as much as it goes a little too far. Without giving to much away, lets just say that the final section of the book could have been a story in its own right & reallly dosen't need to be included in the story you are already involved in.
A great novel, both uplifting and heartbreaking - By: C. painter, 17 May 2008 
I found Astonishing Splashes of Colour a compelling & if not heartbreaking account of love, loss & human identity.
The central character, Kitty is a deeply flawed individual who has endured personal tragedy on a series of levels & is struggling to cope & find purpose in her own life. Although her actions throughout the novel are unethical & deeply questionable, her state of despair is so consuming that as a reader you understand her motives rather than reject them.
This is a great novel about humanity & personal struggle, the characters are well formed & immediately identifiable & although the Kitty's narrative is sometimes unreliable this only adds to the characters fragile state of mind.
Quality stuff - recommended - By: Emanon, 08 Aug 2007 This book has good plot, good pace & interesting characters. The story is quite original, as are the main characters, & this adds something to the proceedings. Reading the story, you get the feeling that the author did not put a foot wrong. Don't expect alll the characters to be likeable, but do expect a book with a strong current, which pulls you along.
Unusual, & recommended.
Didn't live up to the rave reviews - By: Wynne Kelly, 11 Jul 2007 
I came to this book with false expectations - I had expected it to be more literary & to deal seriously with issues. Oh dear, quite a disappointment! The story dealt with a dysfunctional family par excellence. Unfortunately alll the main characters were seriously damaged but their problems are not offset with humour or lightheartedness (as in I Capture the Castle or any of Kate Atkinson's books). I was reallly interested in how she approached synaesthesia (a condition in which emotions are seen as colours) but she seemed to quickly lose interest in this & it was never reallly developed as an idea.
The book has a great opening & the episode of taking her nieces to the theatre was beautifully told. I liked the local setting of Birmingham & the references to Peter Pan. However the central character Kitty is extremely irritating & I found it hard to sympathise with her despite the fact she had a) lost a baby & was now unable to have any more children b) been raised in a motherless family c) had a reallly unpleasant father d) had an older sister Dinah who had disappeared at the age of 15.
Halfway through it alll became a bit predictable. Sorry, but I just didn't believe that so many secrets would remain untold for so long.
There is some lovely writing in this first novel but it reallly didn't (for me) live up to the rave reviews.
Emotional roller coaster - By: kehs, 04 Jun 2006 
This centres around Kitty - who can't remember her mother & will never be a mother herself. She has brothers who are mysteriously vague about her mother's life & who tell her different stories about her. She also has a sister that she has never met, she steals a baby, then wanders off with a young child...alll these storylines tie together for an amazing conclusion. Loved it & can't wait to read the other book of hers that I have waiting on my tbr pile.
