About the Author
"I am a hybrid writer, which means I have been published in a variety of different ways; traditionally, by small press and now independently, or self-published.
I've been writing novels for over thirty years. Some of my book are available in paperback and all are available as e-books.
Social networking sites and writing sites have opened up a whole new world to me and introduced me to some great new writers and books I wouldn't otherwise have discovered.
I love cats, singing, photography, music and LFC.
I'm also an avid keyboard warrior, campaigning against social injustice."
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Visit kjrbooks.yolasite.com and bubbitybooks.blogspot.co.uk
Buy Fruit Woman (ebook)
Buy Fruit Woman(paperback)
About the book
Fruit Woman is narrated by Helen Scutt, a quirky and naive twenty-seven-year-old. The image of the Fruit Woman has appeared to Helen at important times in her life, particularly in relation to her own sexual and spiritual awakening. But only now, while on holiday with her extended family, does she get her first warning message from the Fruit Woman.
Set in the l980s, Helen returns with her extended family, after a twelve year break, to spend a fortnight at their favourite holiday destination in Devon: Myrtle Cottages. Due to join them for the second week of the holiday are: Helen's old friend, Bella, Bella's brother, Dominic, and Helen's cousin, Les. But shortly after the family have arrived on holiday, Helen's mother announces that she has also invited along someone from church for the second week of their holiday: Christine Wigg, a friend of the family, and victim of a rape several years before. In the context of the family holiday, where games of cards, scatological worries, and deep discussions abound, the story centres on Helen's anxieties over the second week's 'guest list'. She's not seen Bella for years, she's attracted to Dominic in spite of his religious beliefs, and she thinks it a bad idea for her mother to have invited Les, who was originally accused of Christine's rape by her in-laws. Helen's concerns trigger off all sorts of childhood and adolescent memories, but as her anxieties mount, can she make sense at last of what happened years before?
Helen reminds me of someone who can't ever find any peace or rest because their brain is constantly buzzing with information, and that is exactly the way she narrates this story. Flitting from one anecdote or childhood memory to the other, like a bee collecting pollen on a sunny spring day.
I hasten to add that the magic of the scribe is to encourage the reader to look beyond the mindless rambling, as the tales are often merely the key to unlock the subliminal messages. Rigby has Helen skim the surface of the issues, much like taking the cream off the top of the milk with a knife or a spoon.
The true essence of this book is family. The eccentricities of our relatives, the loyalties and wars within the walls of the inner sanctum of the small country called family. Helen is safe within those walls, but perhaps also too protected. Is she the only one who can't see what is right in front of her eyes?
I agree with Gran about Bella, and indeed my children have probably tired of me commenting on the fact that leopards don't change their spots. Granted, children who are bullies sometimes grow into adults who reflect upon their mistakes and bad choices, however it doesn't change the fact they made it their mission to destroy someone else's childhood. I have a long memory.
In the midst of the reminiscing, the story of Christine's rape is brought up again and again. She has been invited to the holiday retreat by Helen's mother. Religion and forgiveness is portrayed in equal measures to Helen's more emotional reaction to the rape. A lifetime of punishment is more up her alley. The subtle discussion begs the question whether the rapist deserves the hand of forgiveness and whether or not a sexual predator can change his life around completely. Can faith control base impulses and the need for power?
The other fascinating element of this book is the Fruit Woman. I think each reader will experience the idea of her in a different way, depending on their frame of reference. For me Fruit Woman represents womanhood, at the same time she is also Freud's Id, the inaccessible part of our personality. For Helen she is the magical element of life, the beauty and confusion of living, and the gut instinct that whispers warnings to her even when she doesn't want to listen.
Rigby writes about the mundane and makes it seem extraordinary. She wraps religion, sexual violence, bullying, alcoholism and low self-esteem in a warm blanket of the mediocrity of family life. I liked her approach. You have to look deep below the surface with this one.
Buy Fruit Woman at Amazon UK or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.
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