'Girl in Pieces' by Kathleen Glasgow

 *TW* topics of self-harm, mental health, abuse, and addiction 

Girl in Pieces (2016) by Kathleen Glasgow is the story of a seventeen-year-old girl named Charlie Davis. She is not like other teenage girls who have married parents and healthy social lives. Instead, she has self-inflicted scars all over her body, a dead father, an abusive mother, and lost friendships. 

The novel starts with Charlie in Creeley, the ward for mentally ill girls like herself. However, it is not a pleasant place to be and when she is finally well enough to be let go, it is a relief. Homeless and vulnerable, Charlie embarks on a new phase of life where she encounters many temptations to return to old destructive habits. When she starts a relationship with rebellious Riley, things start to turn around. But is he her missing piece, or just a step in the wrong direction? Can Charlie turn her back on the past and channel her emotion into her artwork instead?

I thought this novel was brilliantly written. Glasgow manages to de-stigmatise mental health and present it honestly and respectfully. One of the things Charlie experiences in this book is severe judgement for the way her arms appear to others. She feels she cannot wear short sleeves without being mocked or questioned. Whilst the novel has doses of humour throughout, it does not shy away from highlighting sad realities like this. 

*spoiler* I was surprised by the ambiguous ending. I felt as though I, as the reader, could decide Charlie's fate. I like to imagine her now setting boundaries with people and making a living from her artwork. For me, it was an emotional moment at the end when Charlie severely hurt herself again. It felt like she had gone back to square one, but then I was reminded of the importance of empathy and understanding. Instead of grilling her about it, Charlie's colleagues helped her. She makes lots of mistakes, falls back into harmful habits, and ignores those trying to help her. However, as a teenager healing from trauma, she is still learning. She embodies all the difficulties that teenagers face from heartbreak to mental health issues and shows that no one is perfect.

Here are some moments that stuck with me:

'I remember the stars that night. They were like salt against the sky, like someone spilled the shaker against very dark cloth.'

'Everyone has that moment, I think, the moment when something so... momentous happens that it rips your very being into small pieces... you gather your pieces... it takes such a very long time, not to fit them back together, but to assemble them in a new way, not necessarily a better way. More, a way you can live with until you know for certain that this piece should go there, and that one there.'

'Was my father my first momentous? He was there, and then he wasn't, and I wasn't supposed to ask about him or cry.'

'I always tell my students that whatever they feel about art, it is true, because it is true to their experience, not mine.'

'I have a job. It's kind of disgusting, but it's mine. I'm a part of something.'

'This art seems important. It's in books. It lasts.'

'For all the people here, I am utterly alone.'

'His eyebrows are like sleeping white caterpillars.'

Buy this novel: Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow | Waterstones