Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Mint by S. R. Wilsher. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to take part in the tour and to the author for my digital review copy. Do check out the posts by my tour buddies for today, Lisa at CoffeeDogsandBooks and Peter at PAJNewman.
About the Book
It’s the summer of 1976 and after nine years in prison James Minter is home to bury his mother. A history of depression and a series of personal issues has seen her death ruled as suicide.
His refusal to accept that conclusion means he must confront his violent stepfather, deal with the gangster who wants his mother’s shop and, of course, face the family of the boy he killed.
But will his search for the truth in the claustrophobic atmosphere of a small seaside town, and the unpicking of the peculiar relationship his mother had with the stonemason next door, put his own life in danger?
Format: ebook (318 pages) Publisher: N/A
Publication date: 27th January 2021 Genre: Historical Fiction
Find Mint on Goodreads
Purchase links
Amazon UK
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My Review
I was first introduced to the writing of S. R. Wilsher when he offered me the opportunity to read his novel, The Good Father. Set amidst the Bosnian conflict, I thought it was terrific and I felt the same about his subsequent novel, The Glass Diplomat set in Pinochet’s Chile.
In Mint, the setting is closer to home, namely a seaside town on the south coast of England to which James Minter, known to most as ‘Mint’, has returned on his release from prison in the wake of his mother’s death. (Although the town is not named, some of the locations mentioned identify it as Weymouth in Dorset.)
Rather than following a chronological structure, the book switches back and forth between different timelines, ranging from 1966 and the events that led to Mint’s conviction for manslaughter, to August 1976 and the days running up to and the weeks immediately after the death of his mother. A final chapter set ten years later acts as a kind of postscript.
The story is told from a number of points of view including Mint himself (in the first person), his former girlfriend Micky and, in the latter part of the book, Mint’s stepsister Lara. It adds up to quite a complex structure that requires some concentration on the part of the reader (although the changes in timeline and points of view are well signposted) but does contribute to the sense that you don’t know how things are going to play out or what is still to be revealed.
Initially the focus is on strained personal relationships, damaged individuals and families torn apart by tragedy. However, in the final third of the book, the mystery element comes to the fore as Lara embarks upon her own enquiries into the death of their mother and into other equally disturbing events, both recent and in the past. Frustrated by the police’s unwillingness to investigate, Lara is left to confront the individual she believes responsible, finding herself “on a path she can’t turn back from”. The truth, when it is revealed, is not necessarily surprising given what has gone before but is shocking and chilling nonetheless.
Full of tension and drama, Mint is another skilfully constructed story from the pen of S. R. Wilsher.
In three words: Intriguing, suspenseful, intense
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About the Author
Simon writes: “I tend to divide my life in two. Prior to 2009, I did the long hours and the commitment to paying the mortgage, studying, and finishing the house, whilst trying to write in a way that didn’t impact too much on family and career. The reality was work affected my writing, and my writing prevented me ever committing to my job wholeheartedly.
In 2009, I had a kidney transplant. It took a while to undo the way I had lived before, my life still involved work, children, coffee and chocolate. But slowly I’ve stepped back from work and now spend much more of my time pleasing myself; writing, making furniture and creating art. I’m no better off financially, but I have been much more productive with my writing.
There was a time when I was rewriting the same book over and over in some attempt to second guess the rejections I received. Self-publishing has freed me to move on. Now I usually have two books on the go, one in development and one on its way to completion. 2020, however, being the year that it was, means I’ve been working on three. I continue to be disappointed that I’ll never see any of my books on the shelves of any bookshop. But I console myself with the fact I’ll never see any of them in a charity shop either.”
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