Peach by Emma Glass: a review

This book caught my eye in the library because I had a vague memory of seeing it in Waterstones not long before. I didn’t give it much of a look in the store, but the memory of it just sparked something that made me think I should borrow it.

            Usually, I’d describe the plot in this bit, but, honestly, I wouldn’t know where to start. It has a plot, but it’s so strange, I wouldn’t really know how to shorten it down to a quick synopsis. I’ll give it a go; Peach by Emma Glass follows our titular character in her weird world. It almost seems like our own until you notice that much of it is not figurative. She’s running from some kind of attack at the start, and what follows is the result of that.

            The first few pages are fast paced and read more like poetry than regular prose. It was unusual to read, but the words really came to life off the page. The style was beautiful, even if the contents were not.

            I can’t say I’m a huge fan of the formatting. It’s a similar issue to the one I had with Tiger Milk, except Glass doesn’t just remove speech marks, she leaves all speech within paragraphs, and conversations aren’t separated. It often got in the way of enjoying the book, because I had to try to figure out who was talking. I made notes on this formatting problem three or four times while reading. It really affected how I was able to enjoy the book, and it is a good book. There’s a reason that there are formatting rules in place. It gives the reader clarity. This book is weird and disorientating, but it would still be that with the proper formatting. I’m not entirely sure how this got past the editor.

            Like I said, things are really weird in this book. It’s subtle at first, but does become far more apparent as the book progresses. I was sure that there would be an explanation, and looked forward to it. Baby, Peach’s younger sibling is a jelly baby, Mr Custard is really made of custard, and it’s all very odd.

            There are a couple of scenes that are really difficult to read. The attack on Peach is never shown, but she does sew up her injury herself, and it is on her genitalia. It’s very difficult to read when she’s sewing it up and removing the stitches.

            The poetic prose reminds me of John Cooper Clarke, and I wonder if this book would be better being preformed aloud than in a physical format. I’m a fan of audiobooks, and, if there is one, it might be worth getting instead.

            There is a dizzying effect brought on by a lot of the weirdness in this book. It always feels like Peach is close to passing out, and, if she goes, I’m with her.

            It is worth pointing out that I was wrong about any sort of explanation, and I don’t feel mad about it. The strangeness is what makes this book beautiful.

            I can only really recommend this book if there’s a good audio version, because the formatting set me on edge in the worst way possible. It didn’t feel cool or artsy. It felt irritating and I wanted no part of it. The story itself was fun though. So, this is only a recommendation if there is a good audio version out there.