Careless
by Kirsty Capes
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Description
At 3.04 p.m. on a hot, sticky day in June, Bess finds out she's pregnant. She could tell her social worker Henry, but he's useless. She should tell her foster mother, Lisa, but she won't understand. She really ought to tell Boy, but she hasn't spoken to him in weeks. Bess knows more than anyone that love doesn't come without conditions. But this isn't a love story...Tags
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Member Reviews
An accessible , moving read. Well worth your time. It's not a YA book, as some have thought, though it may appeal to YA. Bess is a 15 year old , in long term foster care. She feels her foster parents mainly have her for the money she supplies to the family. She's unpopular at school. She finds herself unexpectedly pregnant ,and feels she has no where to turn. The author does not romanticize teen pregnancy, nor the relationship she has with the baby's father. A very touching read. I gained a lot of insight into what it might be like to live as foster child, to be pregnant and alone as a teen. I loved this book and could not turn the pages fast enough.
I'm glad that the 2022 Women's Fiction Longlist brought this book to my attention.
I'm glad that the 2022 Women's Fiction Longlist brought this book to my attention.
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ThingScore 100
A teenager negotiates her way through the care system in this accessible yet profound debut...Teenage heroines are ten a penny, but every now and again one will saunter up, offer you a fag, and hit you with her story right between the eyes...But although Careless is a coming of age story written in a very accessible style, it is suffused with an adult understanding of relationship dynamics show more and, perhaps most viscerally, the struggles young women can face to take ownership of their own bodies...Capes is a care leaver herself and has a PhD in care narratives in contemporary fiction, which was supervised by Bernardine Evaristo. The Booker-prize winner’s mentorship has no doubt been beneficial ....I’m unashamed to say that this novel made me weep and, despite not containing an ounce of didacticism, it offers profound insight into the impact of conditional love on a “looked-after” child.....Capes is a rare new talent, and she has written something very special here: a novel that transforms, with the lightest of touches. show less
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Lists
2022 Women's Prize for Fiction Longlist
16 works; 7 members
Author Information
4 Works 120 Members
Some Editions
Awards and Honors
Awards
Distinctions
The Guardian Book of the Day (2021-05-28)
Common Knowledge
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 76
- Popularity
- 417,320
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.81)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 4
- ASINs
- 3
