Told in two time frames, past and present, this book begs the questions of overcoming, success in a future life, forgiveness of self and if one can ever have a positive future. A hard story to read but a story that makes one think and one that needs to be read with understanding.

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker | Waterstones

Now she has a new secret. It gives her a fizzing, sherbet feeling in her belly. She doesn't get to feel power like this at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer. In the Julia sections of the book, Chrissie is barely holding it together, having grown up (for a huge portion of her life) in a child’s detention centre she was thrust into the world after her incarceration an “adult” in name only. Chrissie is used to having her whole world decided for her so when she is fending for herself she reverts to doing so in a childlike manner. Drinking litres of coke at all hours of the night until her teeth ache, eating whatever sweets she likes instead of real food and generally living a child’s life. Well. I was there when they found him, which is almost as good,” I said. “I saw the man find him in the house and carry him down to his mammy. He was covered in blood. It was coming out of his mouth and ears and everywhere. His mammy was crying like this.” I howled and heaved like a dying fox to show her how Steven’s mammy had sounded. Her face went a bit gray.Fast forward to another first day of spring, where we were introduced to the second narrator, an adult Chrissie, now twenty-five, with a young daughter of her own. She’s using the name Julia, to hide her identity, as Chrissie’s secret is no longer a secret. The public considers her a monster, a child killer – and so does Julia, as how can she not be, when she’s done such unforgivable things? She lives on tenterhooks that her daughter Molly, the person she loves most in the world, will be taken away from her, while deep down she knows she deserves to lose her daughter, that Molly would be better off without her. Then, the phone calls start. Someone has found her… again…

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker | Goodreads

years later, Chrissie is living as Julia after spending years in a juvenile home. She’s changed her identity, and is a single mother to her young daughter, Molly. She tries to do right by her daughter. Nevertheless, when Chrissie/Julia feels like the past is catching up to her present, she is terrified to lose the one person she loves. Our servers are getting hit pretty hard right now. To continue shopping, enter the characters as they are shown Meet Chrissie, she is 8 years old and has a secret, she has just killed a little boy. The feeling made her belly fizz like soda pop. Chrissie is the best at almost everything, wall walking, getting free candy, handstands and now she’s got all the power.

Nancy Tucker

Ron Rash is renowned for his writing about Appalachia, but his latest book, The Caretaker, begins ...

The First Day of Spring - The Gilmore Guide to Books The First Day of Spring - The Gilmore Guide to Books

She’s a painter,” I said. Mam cried out a big, loud wail. Ann raised her eyebrows. “Sometimes her paintings don’t go how she wants them to go,” I said. Julia is Chrissie, about 15-20 years later, under a new name and with a state-sponsored job for rehabilitated criminals. This novel is about childhood neglect and the ramifications. A dark and totally heartbreaking story 💔She also feels insurmountable guilt at having a gorgeous, smart and lovely baby girl when she herself deprived parents from their child. Food is scare at a home for Chrissie and attention even scarcer, but shes not afraid, she feels like god and anyway she knows more than most people… I can honestly say, I was in this 8 year Old’s head and yes, what an awful place to be. A mother who starves her - literally and emotionally. No wonder their was an outcry from Chrissie in the way she behaved.

THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING | Kirkus Reviews THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING | Kirkus Reviews

If you're looking for a feel good read, this isn't it. But if you're willing to read a raw novel about what suffering does, about what being deemed bad can turn you into, and what love in a ragged, needy, and lost way can be at its best and worst, you will not be sorry you read this. It's brilliant and painful and astonishing. An absolute must read, and a novel I won't forget anytime soon. For those unafaid of the darkness of the human heart, this is very, very highly recommended. Intense, brutal--The First Day of Spring is a gorgeously written punch of a novel, the suffering and brutality of a child lost and abused lashing out and inwards. I cried so hard reading about Chrissie's life before and for the name she wears like a ragged cloak as she lives with her daughter, Molly, after.Twenty years later Julia, a single mother is trying her best to raise her five year old daughter but with no role model of her own she is insecure and paranoid that her little girl will be taken from her. Confined for many years in a secure children’s home, she feels she doesn’t fit into normal society doesn’t know how to interact with the other mothers around her. All she wants is to raise her child in a safe and loving home and give her the childhood she never had. Thank you to Riverhead Books for sending me a finished copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. Now available. An angry, powerful book seething with love and outrage for a community too often stereotyped or ignored.