{"id":4668,"date":"2013-11-04T12:22:18","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T12:22:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/?p=4668"},"modified":"2013-11-06T12:31:25","modified_gmt":"2013-11-06T12:31:25","slug":"the-woman-before-me-by-ruth-dugdall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/?p=4668","title":{"rendered":"The Woman Before Me by Ruth Dugdall"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>New edition published by Legend Press 31 October, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

256pp, paperback, \u00a37.99<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reviewed by Shirley Whiteside<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This is a new edition of Ruth Dugdall\u2019s CWA Debut Dagger-winning 2010 novel of love, jealousy and betrayal.\u00a0 It is the story of a relationship between two women, Cate, a probation officer, and Rose Wilks, a prisoner convicted of killing a baby.\u00a0 The narrative switches between Rose\u2019s first person entries into her black book, the story of how she ended up in prison, and third person observations of Cate.\u00a0 These two points of view work well together and deliver a gripping tale full of twists and turns.<\/p>\n

Rose Wilks finds herself pregnant by Jason, a man who is still in love with his former wife who has now remarried.\u00a0 Rose hopes that their baby will bring them closer together, will bind Jason to her.\u00a0 However her son, Joel, is rushed to intensive care not long after his birth and dies.\u00a0 Rose makes friends with another mother on the ward, Emma, whose son, Luke, is healthy and thriving.\u00a0 Rose realizes that Emma is Jason\u2019s ex-wife but is curious about the woman her boyfriend can\u2019t forget.\u00a0 Without letting Jason know she becomes friends with Emma and the two women stay in touch after they leave hospital.\u00a0 Emma finds motherhood hard; she hates giving up her pre-baby life and soon begins to lean on Rose to help out with Luke.\u00a0 Rose becomes a fixture in Emma\u2019s life but Dominic, Emma\u2019s husband, is less than happy with her constant presence in their home.\u00a0 Rose oversteps the mark and begins treating Luke like her own son, even breastfeeding him, which infuriates Emma and Dominic.\u00a0 Their reaction leads to a fire and the tragic death of little Luke.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dugdall worked as a probation officer for nearly ten years, working in high security prisons with high-risk criminals.\u00a0 Her experience imbues this novel with a clear sense of authenticity when it comes to life in prison \u2013 for Cate as well as Rose \u2013 and the duties and dilemmas of a probation officer.\u00a0 Rose\u2019s voice is strong with a sense of purpose and her entries into her black book, her explanation of her actions to Jason, are illuminating. But is she a reliable narrator?\u00a0 Cate is a three dimensional character, a harassed single mother, juggling work and childcare and occasional attempts to have a social life.\u00a0 She wants to do her best for her clients but the sexism and apathy she encounters make her job as frustrating as it is rewarding.\u00a0 Dugdall has made the similarities and differences between the two women sufficient to provide some sparky and empathetic exchanges.\u00a0 The grudging respect that develops between them does not feel like a mere plot point.<\/p>\n

This is an absorbing novel that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.\u00a0 The final twist is unexpected and heartbreaking and the author does well to keep it hidden for so long.\u00a0 Dugdall has written an intense novel with two female protagonists that has enough original elements to make its wide admiration fully deserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Shirley Whiteside<\/p>\n

Dugdall worked as a probation officer for nearly ten years, working in high security prisons with high-risk criminals. Her experience imbues this novel with a clear sense of authenticity when it comes to life in prison \u2013 for Cate as well as Rose \u2013 and the duties and dilemmas of a probation officer. Rose\u2019s voice is strong with a sense of purpose and her entries into her black book, her explanation of her actions to Jason, are illuminating. But is she a reliable narrator? […] in Reviews <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-fiction-and-non-fiction","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4668"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4681,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4668\/revisions\/4681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bookoxygen.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}