The Healer by Sharon Thompson
Genre: General Fiction
Date: 29th January 2019
Purchase: Amazon
Nil stars
(could not finish)
Omg!!! I cannot read any more. I'm sorry Sharon Thompson. I tried.
THE HEALER is about a young girl called Molly in 1940s Ireland. Molly is a little bit different, people are afraid of her for she has a special gift of "healing". To me, Molly read like she was slightly autistic - her matter-of-fact way, her literal logic and her long silences - because she certainly wasn't the halfwit her family and others labelled her as. But then again, in the 1940s the word autism didn't exist so people's ignorance just had her down as "simple", a "halfwit" and "not the full shilling".
Molly's life is a sad one. And it just got worse. Hated by her mother, abused by her uncle and father. Molly didn't know any love in her life until she found a littel bundle of fur that had been tied in a bag with the rest of the litter and thrown into the river to drown. He was the only one to survive and Molly nursed him back to health, and loved and cared for him. She named him Hull - short for another name of a warrior of some kind. She kept him secret from her family.
The only other kindness in her life was Dr Brady, who took in her baby brother after he was born with his wife Violet. Molly saw him as her saviour and every weekend she and Hull went to stay with Dr Brady and his wife and baby Jude. They loved her like their own. Even their cook, Jean took Molly under her wing. The Brady's house was her safe place. Because her own was hell. It was only a matter of time before Molly's abuse went even further.
Then when she was almost 16, that was it for me. I couldn't read any more. The happiness and love between Molly and Hull was so beautiful. It was her only saving grace in that hell hole. So when Molly woke one night to sounds of gurgling and gagging, and saw the state of Hull it was obvious he had been poisoned. It was what I had feared. I had written and commented to another reader, and both she and the author responded and told me while Hull did die the story was a beautiful one with a happy ending. But to me a happy ending was nothing untoward happening to Hull. And here he was poisoned!! I couldn't continue with the book. I tried. But Hull's death wrecked me. I was mortified and every time Molly mentioned Hull I was bawling. I'm sorry. I knew this would happen which is why I wanted to know if and how he dies. That was just cruel. And the description of his pain and agony had me bawling so much I couldn't see the words. I just can't read any more. The story is depressing enough without the only good thing Molly had in her life being so cruelly poisoned. That was just horrible. I had to go cuddle my dogs and forget about this story because I just can't move past Hull's cruel an unnecessary death.
The cruel death of a dog kills me. I cannot read it. It has ruined the book for me and I just don't want to read any more of it. Hull's shadow is always there and I am always reminded of his cruel death. And bawling my eyes out all over again. I hugged my dog and couldn't stop crying. I found it very hard to get to sleep after that, as I could picture the agony poor Hull endured so cruelly. I cannot read a book with such cruelty towards an animal, despite it just being a story.
So therefore I must be one of the only people to not like this book. I tried to like it but after Hull, I simply couldn't. I didn't like any of the characters except Dr Brady, Jean and of course Hull. Even Violet turned against Molly, when she had offered her such love in the beginning. Everyone was cruel and narrow-minded. Everyone had their own agenda. Molly didn't stand a chance. So after Hull, what little desire I had for the book evaporated.
Still, I would like to thank #SharonThompson, #NetGalley and #BloodhoundBooks for an ARC of #TheHealer in exchange for an honest review.
My apologies to Sharon Thompson who was so kind to me in her responses. I really did try to enjoy the book but Hull's demise was the end of it for me.
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