Half Broken Things by
Morag Joss
pbk out December 03
Jean Wade, in her 60s and alone, earns a living (and a series of temporary homes) by
house-sitting. When the sudden termination of her contract by the agency coincides with
her discovery of the keys of all the locked doors and cupboards in her current house,
Jean's life takes a dramatic turn. Suddenly and as if in a dream she sheds her dull outer
self and swiftly assumes ownership of the lovely Walden Manor – to the extent of
destroying items she doesn't want and digging up shrubs in the garden.
Gradually she gathers around her a family to share in her idyll: Michael, a small-time
crook and con-man who suffers from debilitating depression; pregnant, abused Steph:
and finally baby Charlie. Three damaged, vulnerable adults, living with a baby in a
dream world which they must know can never really come true; but the sum of this
family unit is far greater than its parts and when their happy existence is threatened they
deal with the threats capably and terribly.
The narrative alternates between Jean writing in the first person, slowly revealing her
sad and dreadful history, and a third person narration of the events of these shared
lives. The ending is absolutely inevitable, the horror of it dawning upon the reader long
before it is made explicit, but the slow progression towards it is utterly compelling.
Morag Joss has written a remarkable novel, one which requires its readers to make
their own judgments, perhaps even to suspend their own moral principles for a while in
sympathy for these tragic people.
