Review: Drawing With Light byJulia Green

"Kat and Emily have grown up without their mother for almost as long as they can remember. And now Dad is with Cassy and they all muddle along together well enough - even though they are living in a cramped caravan while their new house is being renovated. Then Cassy and Dad tell them that Cassy is pregnant, and everything seems to shift. Emily feels a new urge to find her own mother. How could she have left them the way she did? Never writing to them? Not communicating with them? And as Emily begins her search, not knowing what she will find, she is at the same time embarking on a new relationship of her own, that of her romance with Seb. This is an evocative and finely drawn novel about family relationships, in particular that of mother and daughter, and the shifting emotions of a teenager trying to make sense of her family and her world."

The main female protagonist is Emily and she is going through some big changes. She is a really talented photographer who is a quiet, shy and mature . Her older sister is going to university and her family (that consists of 3 people) live in a cheap and really small caravan. She has to use those public toilets and showers that are in the area and in my opinion, that is not really a good environment for her. She is preparing for her A-levels and I can't really imagine trying to learn and live there...

She also meets Seb who is her first ever boyfriend and there are times when you can see how new she is to dating. They are very different people with very different views on life. However, he is the one who gets her to actually try to find her mother, who ran away with her French art teacher when Emily was 2.

I really didn't like her mother at all. She left her children with the dad when they were 2 and 4. I didn't sympathise with her and I really tried to empathise with her but no.... she thought only of herself and I guess she wasn't ready for motherhood.

I'm really glad that I read this book. This book was written beautifully and was quite poignant. It is a coming of age story about growing up and finding out who you actually are. It is really relatable and I highly recommend it!

Rating 4/5