Steffie’s dad has just died and it’s obvious she has a complicated relationship with him, with the community she lives in and with her past. As her father is laid to rest, her story starts to emerge. It’s clear that her family life in working class Britain was far from easy, with an overbearing, abusive father who favoured her over her sister – who disappeared from the family when Steffie was young. As the writing jumps between the present day and Steffie’s memories, it becomes apparent that Steffie’s recollections are hazy, suppressed and, we, the readers, also can’t quite grasp exactly what happened. What we do know is that Steffie’s life has been hard. She has suffered, living hand-to-mouth for most of her years and has struggled with addictions. And she feels tremendous guilt for the way her sister was treated.
No Such Thing as Monday is Sian Hughes’s second novel. This is a confronting story. At times I found it a little hard to follow, but mostly it’s poignant, sometimes funny and Steffie’s resilience in the face of endless adversity is admirable. It’s a humbling tale that shows that, for some people, simply surviving is a huge achievement.
Reviewed by Amanda Brinkman
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Siân Hughes lives in rural Cheshire and is a Royal Literary Fund Writing Tutor based at the University of Liverpool. Her first collection of poetry, The Missing (Salt, 2009), was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and won the Seamus Heaney Award, among other accolades. Her first novel, Pearl, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2023 and shortlisted for the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award in 2024. It has been published in many languages worldwide. No Such Thing as Monday, is her second novel.
0 Comments