Tuesday 9 January 2024

#Blogtour One of The Good Guys by Araminta Hall

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour for One Of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall - it's an incredible read.

About the Author

Araminta Hall is a journalist and teacher. She is the author of five previous novels, including her first novel, Everything & Nothing, which was published in 2011 and became a Richard & Judy read that year. She is the great niece of Dodie Smith and the great granddaughter of Lawrence Beesley, who survived the Titanic and wrote a bestselling account of the tragedy in the book, The Loss of the SS Titanic. 

She teaches creative writing at New Writing South in Brighton, where she lives with her husband and three children. Follow @AramintaHall on X


About the book

If most men claim to be one of the good guys, then why do so many women live in fear? This is what happens when two such women have had enough...

Cole is the perfect husband; a romantic, supportive of his wife’s career, keen to be a hands-on dad, not a big drinker. A good guy.

So when his wife leaves him, he's floored. She was lucky to be with a man like him. Craving solitude, he accepts a job on the coast and quickly settles into his new life. Then he meets reclusive artist Lennie. And though she is quite different from the woman he’d expected, he believes he has finally found a soulmate. But as their relationship develops, two young women go missing while on a walk protesting gendered violence, right by where Cole and Lennie live. 

Finding themselves at the heart of a police investigation and media frenzy, Cole soon realises they don’t know each other very well at all . . .


Review

First - always trust your gut instinct. Women, and I would add children to that list, but especially women and girls are taught to ignore the basic survival instincts. That nagging feeling they might be in danger, the slither of doubt, which becomes a fleeting and forgotten thought. Society, history and for many centuries entire cultures, have focused on teaching obedience and compliance.

This is good for you, they say. It's all in your head, you're overreacting, what will other people think, you wanted it, you asked for it, what did you say and what were you wearing to make him/them do it? Sound familiar? Sad isn't it. The majority of women will recognise some element of the above. 

The systemic oppression, violence and abuse of women, and I include girls in that category, hasn't become a thing of the past in the 21st century. No, it's actually on the rise. Much like fascism, populists and right wing mantras in the guise of sensible conservative views. We are seeing a steady incline in the voices braying for women's rights to be stripped, their voices to be silenced, and for them to return to their proper place in society. Correlation much between patriarchy, supremacy and the aforementioned.

Trust your gut instinct - it will guide you with a steady and reliable hand in this story. From the very beginning if you listen closely you can hear the alarm bells ringing away.

Cole is going through a difficult break-up. His wife Mel is a workaholic with little time for their marriage or future family. He enjoys the isolation, but doesn't like feeling lonely, which is how he forms a connection with Lennie - a woman who appears to be just as isolated and lonely. Appearances can be deceiving and as the story evolves it seems as if there is more to the story than meets the eye, especially when two young women go missing close to where he lives.

The author shows the hypocrisy of tables turned. How actions, words and responses are viewed through a different lens depending on whether you are a man or a woman. Also how eager society is to bury a bad or evil woman, but in the same breathe rehabilitate, save and reinvent a bad man. The irony of whole industries relying on women infatuated by the stereotypical bad man who can only be redeemed by the love of a 'good' woman, who of course justifies the violence, abuse and overall controlling nature of the male. - Same people who will happily burn a witch, also known as a woman who does not know her place, on Sunday in the back garden and then get annoyed that the freshly laundered clothes are covered in the stench of their subconscious guilt.

Side note -  the chapters with the social media comments and the news or opinion pieces are a tough pill to swallow, because they are the reality of living in our tech advanced lives. The toughest kick to the heart of womanhood are the blows delivered by other women. Those who are so embedded in the misogyny of the patriarchy that they believe they must look down upon, sneer at, belittle, oppress, injure and destroy other women.

It's a powerful domestic thriller, dark and compelling. The truth of justice in the midst of daily injustice is often just a bitter aftertaste in the back of your throat. Highly recommend it.

Buy One Of The Good Guys at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Macmillan | Hardback £16.99| pub date 4th January 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

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