All The Good Things By Clare Fisher

[amazon_link id=”024127575X” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’All The Good Things’ is the first book by Clare Fisher.

Twenty-one year old Beth is in prison. The thing she did is so bad she doesn’t deserve ever to feel good again. But her counsellor, Erika, won’t give up on her. She asks Beth to make a list of all the good things in her life. So Beth starts to write down her story, from sharing silences with Foster Dad No. 1, to flirting in the Odeon on Orange Wednesdays, to the very first time she sniffed her baby’s head. But at the end of her story, Beth must confront the bad thing. What is the truth hiding behind her crime? And does anyone – even a 100% bad person – deserve a chance to be good?

‘All The Good Things’ is Clare’s debut novel and it’s a hauntingly great tale and female prison life and mental illness.

The story is seen through the narrative of Beth, a young troubled woman who’s in jail and is told by her counsellor to write about all the good things in her life.

As Beth works on her list, she brings us back to her past from growing up with foster families, finding her feet and dealing with the realisation of becoming a teenage mother.

Beth is a complex character, which is no surprise as she had a troubled upbringing, with a mother who had her own health problems, she spent most of her time absent from Beth’s life and Beth spent her time moving from different families, hoping to eventually one day find her own permanent place in life. She’s outspoken with a quick temper but underneath all this bravado, she’s insecure and unhappy and longs for content.

Having spent most of her life feeling unloved, she bares her soul into her writing, revealing her thoughts and fears of becoming a mother as well as voicing her excitement. As the story progresses, we delve further into Beth’s life and what path she took to end up in prison.

This story is beautifully written and handles the subject of mental illness with care and grace. Not only is Beth, a wonderful lead character with a strong personality and kind heart, the friends surrounding her, inject a dose of humour into this serious and poignant tale.

A heartbreaking and honest story about the difficulties of mental health and redemption, ‘All The Good Things’ is a book that stays with you long after you reached the final page.

You can pre-order [amazon_link id=”024127575X” target=”_blank” ]All the Good Things from Amazon [/amazon_link] and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 1st June 2017.