The Broken Pane by Charlie Roy

THE BROKEN PANE by Charlie Roy

The Broken Pane tells the story of a woman called Tam and her family. We first meet her when she is in her early twenties in 1992 and it continues until 2001. The chapter headings are all the years each section is about, and the story travels backwards and forwards to explain her life. This is easy to follow though, not confusing.

The novel opens with a very impactful chapter set in 1992, when we find out something huge happens in Tam’s life, something which changes everything and sets her off on a path to find out about her childhood and her family, to attempt to find answers to her many questions and in so doing, to try to discover if her memories are real or false.

It’s quite a deep novel, it is told in the first person and Tam suffers a lot, her life is never easy, especially with Mick, her alcoholic and abusive father. The writing is often quite poetic, almost stream of consciousness at times – and I wasn’t surprised to discover the author, Charlie Roy, is a poet.

It isn’t an easy read, it can feel very bleak at times and the subject matter is dark and unrelenting in places, but it held my interest throughout and I wanted to follow Tam’s life to find out what happens.

4 stars

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