In the Unlikely Event (by Judy Blume)
Reviewed by Brenda Millington
3 OUT OF 5 STARS
On my first day at school, I looked at the c-a-t written in chalk on the blackboard and realised with joy that I could read! I’m rarely without a book ‘on the go’ and am grateful for all the pleasure that reading gives me.
I must have read hundred of books in my lifetime, (I now wish I had kept a record of them!) biographies, historical novels, humour & serious stories along with fiction & non-fiction. I do prefer something with a bit of “meat” in it, and tend to stick to authors that I know. Recently I chanced upon a book by American author, Judy Blume, intrigued by the title. ”In the Unlikely Event”
Most of you probably won’t remember the 1950s, a time before the internet & mass communication. When events on the other side of the Atlantic were as remote as the Moon (yet to be explored). As a teenager, I regrettably didn’t read a newspaper, so the events in this book came as a complete surprise to me.
This is a “novel” based on a series of real life tragedies which took place in Newark (USA). It follows the story of fifteen-year-old Miri Ammerman and her family and friends as they cope with events from December 1951 to February 1952 in their home of Elizabeth, New Jersey.
The fictional part of the book is intersperse with actual local newspaper reports of the time. When the first event occurred, it was a shock, but I only saw it as a fictional device and read on.
I was still getting to grips with the characters and their relationships, but when I read of the next event – I was genuinely shocked (thinking was “You couldn’t make this up” so I actually then googled if it was true. The story continues to a further tragedy a few months later.
I won’t spoil your read by naming the actual events (the clue is in the title). The characters are well drawn, although once or twice I got lost – who’ s who, and who is related to who? There is a list of characters at the front which I found useful. Not an easy read at times, but interesting from the point of view that lives & relationships can be so changed by events outside our control. It is well worth pursuing and enlightened me on an era & events long forgotten.