Jennifer Clement

**Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction 2018** 'My mother called anyone or anything that seemed alone, or ended up in the wrong place, a stray. There were stray people, stray dogs, stray bullets, and stray butterflies.' Fourteen-year-old Pearl France lives in the front seat of a broken down car and her mother Margot lives in the back. Together they survive on a diet of powdered milk and bug spray, love songs and stolen cigarettes. Life on the edge of a Florida trailer park is strange enough, but when Pastor Rex's 'Guns for God' programme brings Eli Redmond to town Pearl's world is upended. Eli pays regular visits to Margot in the back seat, forcing Pearl to find a world beyond the car. Margot is given a gift by Eli, a gun of her own, just like he's given her flowers. It sits under the driver's seat, a dark presence... Gun Love is a hypnotic story of family, community and violence. Told from the perspective of a sharp-eyed teenager, it exposes America's love affair with firearms and its painful consequences.

Gun Love

Gisela Ayala 

It's not very often that I get to read books that take place in the state I grew up in - so I always find it very interesting reading authors personal take on Florida. AND this book was interesting and timely and the plot was good - but the I just wasn't feeling the delivery of the story. I've read prose-ish books before and I adore them, but I think the writing style got in the way from completely enjoying this book. 

Other than that, it was an interesting read and as I mentioned above - timely.

Amy Maddess

This was a good outline/rough draft of what could have been a really good book. However, something was lacking and it didn't stand out for me. It definitely needs at least five more drafts to be great. I feel like if the authour added more substance it could have been really special, because the setting and plot set up the book to be potentially heart wrenching, but it fell flat for me. Books that tell tragic events from a child's point of view are only worth the read if they are done really well, and I don't think anything will live up to "Room" by Emma Donoghue. When taking the narrative point of view of a child, authours often make the mistake of using childish language or sentence structures while using adult insight and providing the reader with thoughts that a child wouldn't be able to articulate. To me, this seems like a bit of a cop-out to hide behind juvenile writing while still coming across as insightful. Also, I feel like this authour hid behind concepts like drugs and gun violence to 'wow' the reader, without providing any real moral or insight that would make this book memorable. The way it was told and parts of the plot reminded me of 'Ugly Girls' by Lindsay Hunter, which I don't love, but which I would recommend more than this if you're looking for a book set in a trailer park with gun violence&children.

Peter Unruh

Jule

"Pearl's mother took her away from her family just weeks after she was born, and drove off to central Florida determined to begin a new life for herself and her daughter--in the parking lot next to a trailer park. Pearl grew up in the front seat of their '94 Mercury, while her mother lived in the back. Despite their hardships, mother and daughter both adjusted to life, making friends with the residents of the trailers and creating a deep connection to each other"--Amazon.com.

Gun Love

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