Sophie Hannah writes these beautiful, typically British mystery novels that are funny, sarcastic and insightful at the same time. Here is an excerpts from her most recent novel Kind of Cruel:
I learned a lot about what it means to be a parent. . . If you have a child that behaves like a savage, deflect attention from his shortcomings by accusing the teachers of “pathologizing” him and failing to meet his individual needs, especially if these include the need to poke other children in the eye with a fork. If your son fails a test, accuse the school of being too outcome-focused; if he is lazy and says everything is boring, blame the teacher for not stretching or stimulating him in the right way; if your child is not particularly bright, couch the problem in terms of the school failing to identify and plug a “skills gap”; crucially, ostracize anyone who dares to suggest that some gaps – those belonging to clever children, specifically – are easier to fill with skills than others, and that, hypothetically, a teacher might try endlessly to lob into the chasm some fairly basic proficiencies and fail to lodge them there, owing to an inherently unsympathetic micro-climate of massive stupidity.
Hanna’s novels usually revolve around dysfunctional families and pathological relationships. She is very well-read and is yet to write anything stupid or inconsistent in terms of individual and family psychology.
Kind of Cruel is not yet out in the US but The Other Woman’s House is and it is also superb.
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