Fruit Woman is a novel from author Kate Rigby. Its a short read at only 170 pages but is one you will remember.
Fruit Woman is narrated by Helen Scutt, a quirky and naïve twenty-seven-year-old. The image of the Fruit Woman has appeared to Helen at important times in her life, particularly in relation to her own sexual and spiritual awakening. But only now, while on holiday with her extended family, does she get her first warning message from the Fruit Woman.
Set in the l980s, Helen returns with her extended family, after a twelve year break, to spend a fortnight at their favourite holiday destination in Devon: Myrtle Cottages. Due to join them for the second week of the holiday are: Helen’s old friend, Bella, Bella’s brother, Dominic, and Helen’s cousin, Les.
But shortly after the family have arrived on holiday, Helen’s mother announces that she has also invited along someone from church for the second week of their holiday: Christine Wigg, a friend of the family, and victim of a rape several years before.
In the context of the family holiday, where games of cards, scatological worries, and deep discussions abound, the story centres on Helen’s anxieties over the second week’s ‘guest list’. She’s not seen Bella for years, she’s attracted to Dominic in spite of his religious beliefs, and she thinks it a bad idea for her mother to have invited Les, who was originally accused of Christine’s rape by her in-laws. Helen’s concerns trigger off all sorts of childhood and adolescent memories, but as her anxieties mount, can she make sense at last of what happened years before?
Fruit Woman is quite a short read at just 170 pages. But it’s a story that lingers in your mind long after you’ve read it.
Kate has written each character to have their own distinct personalities which as you read further in to the book, you really come to like each of them and understand them, so by the end of the story you feel as if you know personally.
A wonderful book to get lost in when you have some ‘me’ time.
You can get a copy of Fruit Woman here!
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