Books › Love Lessons
Love Lessons
First published 2005 · 199 pages
A poignant, emotionally messy exploration of a sheltered girl's desperate search for connection and the dangerous allure of an inappropriate crush.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like stepping into the pages of a deeply private, emotionally turbulent diary. The narrative pulls you from the claustrophobic tension of a strictly controlled household into the overwhelming, sensory overload of a typical high school. It captures the dizzying, all-consuming nature of a first crush, made all the more intense by the protagonist's sheltered vulnerability and desperate longing for normalcy. The prose is highly accessible and conversational, making the pages fly by even as you wince at the impending heartbreak of an inappropriate dynamic. It is a bittersweet, angsty experience that perfectly encapsulates the messy, painful transition from childhood isolation to the harsh realities of teenage life, delighting readers who appreciate gritty, character-driven contemporary stories.
- Mood
- claustrophobic
- emotionally turbulent
- bittersweet
- overwhelming
- Tone
- confessional
- earnest
- angsty
- empathetic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- sheltered upbringing · inappropriate crushes · family dysfunction · longing for normalcy · loss of innocence
- The writing
- Accessible, conversational, and deeply rooted in the protagonist's authentic, slightly naive teenage voice.
- The arc
- Moves from stifled isolation to dizzying infatuation, culminating in a painful but necessary awakening to reality.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave gritty, realistic contemporary fiction about messy family dynamics and the complicated, sometimes dangerous nature of first loves.
Content notes
- teacher-student relationship
- grooming dynamics
- emotional abuse
- parental illness
About the book
Another superb novel for older readers from our best-selling authorFourteen-year-old Prue and her sister Grace have been educated at home by their controlling, super-strict father all their lives. They know they are different to 'normal' girls but their attempts to find out what being an ordinary teenager are like - buying nice clothes instead of wearing Mum's odd hand-made garments, reading teenage magazines etc - are greeted with fury by their Dad. But when Dad has a stroke and ends up in hospital, unable to move or speak, Prue suddenly discovers what it's like to have a little freedom. Unable to cope with their education and a sick husband, the girls' mother sends them to the local comprehensive and they experience school life for the first time. Prue had never thought it would be so bitchy and that she'd find it so hard to fit in. The only person she can talk to is her kindly, young, handsome Art teacher, Rax. She and Rax bond over art lessons, and soon he asks to babysit for his young children while he and his wife have a night out on a Friday. This becomes a regular 'date' and Prue can't wait for the ten minutes they have along together as he drives her home. As her feelings for Rax develop, she begins to realise that perhaps he feels the same way about her. But he can't act upon them, can he? An absorbing portrait of a forbidden relationship for teenage readers from the mega bestselling Jacqueline Wilson.
Description from Open Library.
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