House of Correction
Apr. 9th, 2025 09:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearHouse of Correction by Nicci French is about Tabitha, who is arrested for a murder in her small seaside village and ends up representing herself in the trial.
The first half is Tabitha in prison, trying to get to grips with what's going on while navigating the trials and tribulations of prison life and preparing for her trial.
All the mundanities of being in prison, and all the details of what's going on in the case are presented well, though it does get a bit tedious and repetitive in places (though, granted, that's very much in keeping with Tabitha's experience). What brings some heart to the story is her interactions with various of the other prisoners, which are often poignant and emotive - though these are few and far between and I would have liked a lot of these characters to have been in it more.
Things really pick up in the second half with the trial itself. While I understood why Tabitha decided to represent herself (and it makes sense to bring some drama to the story - as otherwise she would just be sitting around in prison and the court without taking any active part), it did seem a ridiculous turn of events - which her solicitor did try to point out, to be fair.
But it makes the court proceedings much more entertaining, tense and emotive - and we do get a lot more emotion in this section.
By 100 pages from the end, I still had absolutely no idea what had really happened or how things were going to turn out. One of the main strengths of the novel is that Tabitha herself isn't 100% sure she's innocent, which adds a lot of intrigue and interest to how things develop. And where the story ultimately went was pretty satisfying overall.
So, a good read, all told.
The first half is Tabitha in prison, trying to get to grips with what's going on while navigating the trials and tribulations of prison life and preparing for her trial.
All the mundanities of being in prison, and all the details of what's going on in the case are presented well, though it does get a bit tedious and repetitive in places (though, granted, that's very much in keeping with Tabitha's experience). What brings some heart to the story is her interactions with various of the other prisoners, which are often poignant and emotive - though these are few and far between and I would have liked a lot of these characters to have been in it more.
Things really pick up in the second half with the trial itself. While I understood why Tabitha decided to represent herself (and it makes sense to bring some drama to the story - as otherwise she would just be sitting around in prison and the court without taking any active part), it did seem a ridiculous turn of events - which her solicitor did try to point out, to be fair.
But it makes the court proceedings much more entertaining, tense and emotive - and we do get a lot more emotion in this section.
By 100 pages from the end, I still had absolutely no idea what had really happened or how things were going to turn out. One of the main strengths of the novel is that Tabitha herself isn't 100% sure she's innocent, which adds a lot of intrigue and interest to how things develop. And where the story ultimately went was pretty satisfying overall.
So, a good read, all told.
