Ten-year-old Iris is living with her grandma, Mimi, while her Dad renovates her bedroom which has a problem with dampness and is growing mould. When the problem with the mould started, Iris slept in the same room as her twin brother and sister who are two years old, but this caused a lot of friction. Her parents decided to let her live with her grandma for a few weeks.
Next door to Mimi, lives Mason, a boy who has recently moved to Brighton and is in the same class as Iris. Iris doesn’t want to become friends with Mason but circumstances draw them together. Over the road from Mimi is a same-sex couple, Lee and Danny, who regularly walk their dogs and Mimi often walks with them.
Iris enjoys living with her grandma more than with her parents because the twins are noisy and unruly. Mimi has always been a little strange. Mimi was a professional photographer and has boxes of old photos. Iris’s Dad describes Mimi as a “live wire.” She is full of energy, likes to laugh and does little dances in the kitchen. She wears unusual combinations of clothes and regularly goes swimming in the sea even when it’s cold. But lately, she is becoming more and more forgetful.
Meanwhile, an interesting mystery develops over Mimi’s cousin. It was always believed that she died in a fishing boat accident with her parents when she was two, but Iris and Mason have reason to believe this wasn’t the case and start investigating.
Overall, S.E. Durrant has written an engaging, well-told story, with interesting characters and a good plot.
Thanks to Christian School Supplier for providing a free book for review.
Book Review : Talking to the Moon
