When to Walk

Rebecca Gowers

Average Rating 7/10 (1 Review)

It looks like just another week ahead. Then out of the blue Ramble's husband ends their marriage over lunch and disappears. With no rent money and her world in shreds, she is forced to reconsider everything she's ever been taught by her screwy relatives, unreliable friends and wayward criminal connections. Should she hide in life's slipstream, or has the moment come to break free? When to Walk is an astonishing debut, lit up with hope and unexpected laughter.

'Tristram Shandy meets Bridget Jones in Rebecca Gowers's first novel.... Ramble is a brilliantly original and convincing voice.'

'As darkly funny as Sylvia Plath and as eccentric as George Saunders. Gowers is a geniuse.'

Review by Jessica (181009) Rating (7/10)

Review by Jessica
Rating 7/10
After reading the synopsis on the back cover of this book, I was surprised by how very different the story is. It says that Ramble's husband ends their marriage over lunch and Ramble is left with no rent money - all of this is more or less correct but the over-all story is so much more different. For instance, it is very humorous in parts and although Ramble's life seems a hopeless mess neighbours are always there to either help or bring a smile to her face although they do later involve her in a petty crime. The book is set out rather like a diary covering the course of seven days (for instance chapter one is Saturday and so on).

Ramble's husband always said she spent too much time inside her head, thinking. With a name like Ramble, it is very fitting to her character and she certainly does ramble quite a lot, although some observations Ramble makes are closely studied and deserve praise.

Keep with this easy-to-read plot and see how Ramble fairs after Con, her husband, labels her an 'autistic vampire' and disappears to start a new life without her.

Not much to say on a book like this one where the storyline is quite straight forward. It is not the best of its kind that I have come across, however, it is very much up to the individual to decide.
Jessica (18th October 2009)