The Nearly Girl by MEWE MECHESE
THUR, JANUARY 17 2019-theG&BJournal-The Nearly Girl is a racy read. The tone is nearly amorous but certainly not humorous. It is a subtle, very frenetic ‘little’ book that you can read figuratively, centering on a young girl, a nervously unsure mother and the raunchy Aunt Sue.
Anne, already on the edge about Olivia her young daughter, is pushed beyond exasperation by her sister Aunt Sue, the free living monster who grew out of Highgate in a home with a swimming pool.
Anne tried hard to be a good mother, Olivia can’t get her head down, she hadn’t even figured out what she wants to be when she leaves school. She could only manage double science-that is how far removed she is. Anne’s precarious mind is already roundly abused by Aunt sue’s laziness which is sort of inherited by her daughter Olivia, in crotchety contentment.
This is ostensibly the story of a very strained relationship between mother, daughter and sister. Mewe combines touchy realistic everyday mother’s dilemma with an undertone of desperation. She is sending a powerful message to the girl-child whose values are contrived from the likes of Aunt Sue- that the deepest ditches are not those you fall into and get off but those you can’t get out from when you fall into.
Mewe weaves a free flowing, roundly satisfying unfolding narrative which hopefully leaves an indelible mark when you put down the sequel.
Reviewed by CHARLES IKE-OKOH
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