Ketchup Clouds

This turned out to be a little different from what I expected. From the 'teenage girl writing to a serial killer' premise, I'd expected a thriller more akin to Belinda Bauer's Blacklands. What I GOT was something that was more like a fusion of Laurie Halse Anderson and Malorie Blackman: a pitch-perfect, wry and beautifully told story of a young woman spilling her darkest secrets to someone she hopes might understand. It's gripping, yes, and provocative, but in a heartstring-tugging and realistic way rather than a chilling one.

Zoe has a dark secret... a secret that she's been carrying with her since a tragic day in May. Though no one would ever suspect it, Zoe is a murderer. She killed a boy she was supposed to love and got away with it. But the guilt of her actions keep her awake at night and drive her to seek out an unconventional pen pal, a Mr. Stuart Harris. Mr. Harris might be the only person who can understand how Zoe feels... he may be the only person she can confess to. After all, Mr. Harris also killed someone he was supposed to love, his wife, and he now sits on death row in Texas. So begins Zoe's story, told entirely in letters written from a cold, damp shed to a death row inmate an ocean away. Slowly, the events that led to a deadly May day show more unfold, culminating in a thrilling, heartwrenching conclusion. An off-beat story fill with wry, dark humor and a bittersweet romance, KETCHUP CLOUDS is a story of love, loss, and, ultimately, redemption.

KETCHUP CLOUDS is one of the best books I've read in years. I've only read two other books that I've loved like this: JELLICOE ROAD and THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE. These are the books - the stories - that I wish I could experience again for the very first time.

Annabel Pitcher's sophomore novel is character driven and, except for the final few pages, is told entirely in letters from Zoe to Mr. Harris, convicted murderer and death row inmate. No responses from Mr. Harris are included in the text; this is very much Zoe's story... Zoe's confession. But it's important that these letters are to someone, not, for example, diary entries, because Zoe needs to be writing to someone who she feels can understand her guilt. At the same time, the epistolary format allows for a relationship to develop between Zoe and her pen pal, a relationship filled with awkward truths, dark humor, and painful memories. And it's fitting, and perhaps necessary, that Zoe never receives a letter back from Mr. Harris, this way, she can tell her story and come to terms with what happened while feeling protected by anonymity. For Zoe, confessing her secrets is cathartic.

Because Zoe starts at the beginning, long before she was a self-proclaimed murderer, much of the book focuses on the events leading up to the murder. Through Zoe's careful telling, the events come together slowly, fitting together like a puzzle. Zoe tells Mr. Harris about her life at home: her parents' marital issues, her sister being bullied, her littlest sister, deaf, struggling to learn to read lips. With all the drama happening at home, no one notices Zoe... or the start of her relationship with two brothers, a relationship that ends with one dead. But, in the midst of all this darkness, there is so much love. The love between Zoe and her family, even when things seem to be spinning out of control at home. The slow, sweet love that builds between Zoe and a boy that she can't forget, even when their love could hurt those closest to them. Zoe never imagined that her actions could end in death and, as I read, I kept hoping that they wouldn't. Hoping that, somehow, there could be a happy ending for Zoe.

I want to take this book and press it in to the hands of every reader I know. I hope that everyone that reads it falls as madly in love with it as I did. show less

I really loved Pitcher's first novel, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece, so I had high hopes for Ketchup Clouds. Again, Pitcher accurately captures the voice of a young teenager: "Zoe" (Alice) is writing letters to a death row inmate in Texas, because she too feels an overwhelming guilt, but she can't tell anyone she knows. Of course, Zoe didn't actually stab anyone to death, but she feels as guilty as if she had.

Through her letters, the reader learns about the events leading up to a boy's death, and Zoe's life before and after, including her relationship with her younger sisters, Soph and Dot, and the tension in her parents' marriage. (Zoe's mom feels that Dot's deafness is her fault; Zoe's dad loses his job and is looking for a new show more one, but is also frustrated that Zoe's mom won't look for a job too.) Meanwhile, Zoe is balancing two love interests.

A quick, compelling read that deals with serious issues in a realistic way. I enjoyed it very much, but I think I preferred her first book.

Quotes

Max looked puzzled, then amused. "I don't always get your jokes, but I like that you tell them." (123) show less

Zoe feels guilty, really really guilty. She has done something wicked, and has been unable to tell anyone else her story. So she tells it all in a series of confessional letters to a prisoner on Death Row in the US.

I wasn't sure about this initial premise, actually, that someone Zoe's age would be inspired to confess her misdeeds to a Death Row prisoner, inspired by a campaigning nun who visits her school. Not only do we only see her letters to him, it is fairly obvious that this is a one-sided correspondence, a monologue. However, Zoe does say that she has always wanted to be a writer, and that makes this slightly awkward bit easier to get past, and I'm sure the internet has opened up all kinds of possibilities for sensitive young show more girls dreaming of a literary career since my teens! Once over this hurdle, her story is well written and very readable. Pitcher skilfully weaves together the details of a girl growing up and of everyday life in a family under a lot of strain - Mum and Dad argue all the time and Zoe is eaten up by guilt.

Zoe's confession is fleshed out with word portraits of her family - Pitcher's descriptions of little sister Dot and Mum make them seem quite real. The Death Row prisoner remains an enigma, but while Zoe makes sympathetic references to what he must be experiencing, she remains very focused on her own story.

All in all, a quirky, thought provoking read, sad but with a lot of humour at the same time - well worth a read or even a reread by sensitive teenage girls and boys and anyone who was once one. show less

I loved this book of letters written by an English teen-ager to a Texas death row inmate. You never read any of his letters, just hers, but through them, you learn why she is writing to him. I loved the ending and thought she was much harsher on herself than I was.

UGGGH GOODREADS STOP DELETING MY REVIEWS JUST BECAUSE I ACCIDENTALLY CLICKED WRONG SOMEWHERE.

This book is about Zoe, a teenage girl with a secret so terrible she can only tell it to a death row inmate with no possibilty of returning her letters. The book is told throughout the letters she's sending him, confessing the horrible thing she did. It is clear from the beginning that someone died and that she had something to do with it, but it's not until the very end you know what happened or even who died. The book is very well-told in that regard, and never has to rely on annoying cliffhangers to keep you reading: it's just very suspenseful and impossible to put down.

I have this fascination with serial killers, and it is a fascination I show more very much dislike sharing with others, since there's a fine line between "I find the dark parts of humanity scary and interesting" and "I'm gonna send letters to a serial killer because I'm kinda fangirling this person", and I very much want to stay away from the second kind of person. People who write to murderers I've always considered as the second type of person, but this book sort of made me realize that that is probably not always the case. Even if Zoe does project a lot of feelings and opinions onto Stuart Harris, since - for all we know - he might not have read a single letter she writes him (though, to be fair, that was probably never the point of her letters).

Anyway, it was a good book. A nice YA story told in a creative way. show less

A heartwarming tale of how a teenage girl copes with the guilt of killing someone. The novel is told through letters that the protagonist writes to a prisoner in a death prison. She confesses to him what she has never told anyone before. Throughout the book there is a question of 'who did she kill' and it's not until the very end you find out which one of the two characters, who happen to be brothers, die. 'Ketchup Clouds' is as good as if not better than 'My Sister Lives on the Mantlepiece'. Annabel Pitcher has a beautiful writing style that makes you feel every emotion possible at the same time. The characters, especially the protagonist who we'll call Zoe so as to not spoil the plot, develop and become more and more relatable, with show more every letter. Even the way in which Zoe talks in her letters changes as she becomes more comfortable in confessing everything to the prisoner. She and the two brothers become visibly more mature yet there is still a little naïveté behind their maturity. From the front cover you know Zoe is technically a murderer but you end up feeling empathetic towards her. Overall 'Ketchup Clouds' is a beautifully written novel which includes current affairs, family issues and relationship issues. Absolutely wonderful and a must read. show less