Nook&Cranny reviewed Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon
The Colour of Milk is the new novel by Orange longlisted author and playwright Nell …
The saddest book I ever read
5 stars
Content warning Talking about the outcome of the story.
... and then I shall be free.
A short story about a witty but uneducated farm girl, how she got sold by her father to the local priest to take care of his sick wife, and how he, after his wife died, started to teach her to read and to write .. at an unspeakable cost for her.
The book starts easy. An all-day story about the hardships Mary's family has to live through to keep everyone fed. Word by word, line by line a story gets unveiled that will leave you just sad, shocked and helpless.
At first glance it might not be a happy end but for Mary, the rope could be THE happy end.
A brilliant book. If not for Christmas time I guess I could have read it in one day.