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Kitty Wellington the narrator of Clare Morrall’s absorbing sure-footed first novel has been brought up in a large family by her painter father. Surrounded by older brothers she has no real recollection of either her mother who was killed in a car crash or her sister who ran away from home. The great strength of the novel is Kitty herself. Morrall has provided her with a compelling narrative voice – wry confiding perceptive. Echoes from JM Barrie’s disturbing masterpiece are quietly sounded with particular emphasis on missing mothers and “lost boys”.
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Reviews
Astonishing Splashes of Colour is not a showy book, but it is extremely well written and compulsively readable. At her very first attempt, Morrall has written a genuinely solid and satisfying work of fiction, skilfully plotted and fielding a cast of fully realised and individualised characters. More, please.
An extremely good first novel: deceptively simple, subtly observed, with a plot that drags you along like a strong current
Fresh, frightening and raw. There's nothing in the least depressing about this nevertheless sad story, certainly nothing remotely sentimental.
This is a novel that never puts a foot wrong, despite a storyline that takes some surprising twists and turns. It is confident, astute and moving . . . Morrall reveals [Kitty's] mystery artfully and convincingly, telling a story that is shocking, heart-stopping and completely absorbing