The Night Rainbow

Glynis Connell Oak Farm Library Reading Group.
Our group really liked this book, some did not see the twist coming but others spotted this early on.
Some comments from the group: -
Lovely innocence about it.
Transports you back to your childhood.
Great would read again.
Well written, sometimes repetitive until the twist was revealed, which was excellent.

Lynne Garcia, Ab-Fab Professors, Plymouth

When I first picked up The Night Rainbow and realised that the story was narrated by a five year old child, I was initially sceptical as I am not always fond of this style of writing, however, I quickly fell in love with the main character, Pea, and her younger sister, Margot who are trying to 'find their mother's happiness' after she has lost both a baby and a husband in quick succession.

Set in rural France, the story is of the two girls trying to make the best of their situation living with their Maman who is heavily pregnant and unable to cope with day to day life, due partly to her condition, but mainly due to her overwhelming grief. She loves the girls, but cannot function and even struggles to do everyday tasks, so the girls do their best to amuse themselves and support one another whilst trying to keep Maman happy over a long, hot summer.

The total innocence of young children and their capacity for accepting and adapting to new situations, however tragic, is incredible and the resilience of the two girls and their ability to make the best of a situation was so endearing. They attempt to undertake housework and washing because they realise these tasks need to be done and their childlike attempts are just so tenderly described.

The girls also spend a lot of time away from the house, playing and this is where they meet Claude and his dog who they instantly become friends with. The girls' relationship with Claude I initially found slightly sinister and I was concerned that he was not what he seemed and it was not until the very end of the book that my trust in him was complete; this slightly undermined my enjoyment of the book because I kept thinking something awful was going to happen.

The relationship between Pea and her younger sister I completely accepted, although there were a couple of occasions that I thought ‘that’s odd’, but I didn’t question any further because I was enjoying the book too much. At the end of the book, the reason for my slight confusion was revealed.

Overall the central character and narrator of this book do a fantastic job and it is a thoroughly enjoyable read, eventually giving hope of a better future.

Maureen Mitchell on behalf of the Mo's Mob Reading Group. 18.10.13

There are seven of us in our group and the overall reaction was that this is a beautifully written book. We felt it was quite magical with an idyllic setting, fantastic atmosphere and lovely description.

We loved the story of Pea and how she coped with her depressed Maman and her friendship with Claude - we never did feel this friendship was suspect.

We would recommend this book to others as we felt it takes one into another world - some sadness but a good ending. We would rate this book as excellent.

Frodsham Reading Group 2.
10 of us met tonight to discuss the book and it was almost universally well received. We did agree that this was not a book that we would have naturally chosen to read but we were pleased that we had. Most of us would read more by the author. We felt that the strong points were the descriptions; it was so evocative of France. We also thought that it was a sensitive and thoughtful book, raising a number of interesting issues.
Many of us were a bit put off at first by it being narrated by a child and many felt a somewhat precocious child at that. But we were soon engrossed in the book and this mattered less and less.
We found it to be an enjoyable and easy read although some did feel it would be better as a short story,

This is a very enjoyable, sweet book. It is set in France in a hot summer. It is written in the thoughts and words of Pea, a four year old girl. Her mother is heavily pregnant and having a difficult time. She lost her last baby and her “husband†died not long ago in an accident. English in a foreign town, Pea’s mother is unhappy, tired, needs to rest all the time, and has money worries. She cannot cope. Pea is left to fend for herself and play with Margot, “her younger sister by one year but tallâ€Â. They roam the surrounding fields and try to please their mother. Pea feels she is not loved now Papa has died. They are befriended by Claude, who has his own sorrows.

We enjoyed the story and how it is told through the eyes of a little girl. Gradually through her experiences you get a feel for what is happening around her. It was a very enjoyable read. We cared about all the characters and would recommend it to others. The hardback book cover, with the rainbow, was lovely and made you want to pick it up and read it.

On behalf of a group in Blackburn - This is an eminently readable book, told through the eyes of 5-year old Pea, who lives with her mother and younger sister in a farmhouse somewhere in the south of France. Pea’s father has died in an accident and her mother has previously had a miscarriage but is now heavily pregnant again with another baby. The girls are left very much to their own devices and are roaming around the neighbourhood when they meet Claude, a strange man who befriends them. At this point the story could have turned nasty and ended in tragedy but, although Claude is odd, he doesn’t seem to be grooming them, but rather watching over them protectively. We found the atmosphere of the book rather oppressive, with the intense heat and Maman’s oscillation between overwhelming fatigue and irritabilityand also felt cross that she didn’t seem to care what the girls got up to. Some of us had started to speculate whether Claude was in fact the deceased Amaury, or Pea’s real father but Margot’s real identity hadn’t entered my head. At the beginning of the book I felt that Margot should have been the older sister, as her thoughts and comments seemed too old for a four year old. This irritated me, but once her identity was revealed it all became clear. The feelings of a five year old child caught up in a situation that she doesn’t really understand can be hard to articulate but Claire King does a good job in conveying the innocence and bewilderment felt by Pea as those she loves seem unreachable. She is a memorable character, always trying to do the right thing in her own little way, but somehow, in spite of her best efforts, things always go wrong. Some of the other characters are less memorable and we would all have liked more background detail about Papa’s accident and the people who live in the village, but all in all, we agreed this was a good read.