Half Bad Excerpt Blog Tour ~ Part One: Ironing



I'm so excited to be taking part in the Half Bad Blog Tour! I loved the story so much & the book even led to me getting a new job after an event with the author :)

With rights to the book sold in 43 countries and the film rights bought Half Bad is a sensation even before it's publication. It's a stunning debut, a story of survival and the kind of realism that will have you questioning, 'what would I do?'

*This is day four of the tour so if you haven't yet read the first three parts be sure to pop over to the other blogs and get up-to-date with the reveal of part one.*

 

 

 

 

 

part one

 

ironing

 

‘You nearly lost your hand.’

 

It’s lying on the kitchen table still attached to your arm by bone, muscle and sinew that are visible in the open raw groove round your wrist. The skin that used to be there has formed lava-like rivulets, running down to your fingers as if it has melted and set again. Your whole hand is puffing up nicely and hurts like . . . well, like an acid burn. Your fingers twitch but your thumb is not working.

 

‘It might heal so that you can use your fingers again. Or it might not.’

 

She took the band off your wrist at the loch and sprayed the wound with a lotion that dulled the pain.

 

 She was prepared. She’s always prepared.

 

 And how did she get there so quick? Did she run? Fly on a bloody broomstick?

 

However she got to the loch you still had to walk back with her. That was a tough walk.

 

‘Why don’t you speak to me?’

 

She’s right in your face.

 

‘I’m here to teach you, Nathan. But you must stop trying to escape.’

 

She’s so ugly that you’ve got to turn away.

 

There’s an ironing board set up on the other side of the kitchen table.

 

She was ironing? Ironing her combat trousers?

 

‘Nathan. Look at me.’

 

You keep your eyes on the iron.

 

‘I want to help you, Nathan.’

 

 

You hawk up a huge gob, turn and spit. She’s quick, though, and snatches back so it lands on her shirt not on her face.

She doesn’t hit you. Which is new.

 

‘You need to eat. I’ll heat up some stew.’

 

That’s new too. Usually you have to cook and clean and sweep.

 

But you’ve never had to iron.

 

She goes to the pantry. There’s no fridge. No electricity. There’s a wood-burning range. Setting the fire up and cleaning it out are also your chores.

 

While she’s in the pantry you go to look at the iron. Your legs are weak, unsteady, but your head’s clear. Clear enough. A sip of water might help but you want to look at the iron. It’s just a piece of metal, iron-shaped, with a metal handle, old. It’s heavy and cold. It must be heated up on the range to do its job. Must take ages. She’s miles from anywhere and anything, and she irons her trousers and shirts!

 

When she comes back a few seconds later you’re round by the pantry door and you bring the iron down hard, pointed side against her head.

 

But she’s so bloody tall and so bloody fast. The iron catches the side of her scalp and sinks into her shoulder.

You’re on the floor clutching your ears, looking at her boots before you pass out.

Want to keep reading? Go to: www.bookzone4boys.blogspot.co.uk (from 28^th Feb)

 

 

Text copyright © Sally Green, 2014 published by Penguin Books

 

 



Image & author bio
taken from the
Half Bad website

SALLY GREEN lives in north-west England with her husband and son. She has had various jobs and even a profession but in 2010 she discovered a love of writing and now just can’t stop. She used to keep chickens, makes decent jam, doesn't mind ironing, loves to walk in Wales even when it's raining, and will probably never jog again. She really ought to drink less coffee. Half Bad is her first novel.
Follow Sally on Twitter!