Down The Tubes

I was drawn to this book by the fact it seemed to be an interesting hybrid of fiction and non-fiction. It’s a fictional tale, based on the author’s personal and professional experience of working in drug rehabilitation.

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Blurb:

A hard-hitting novel based on the author’s experience of working in the field of addictions.

It’s the late 1980s and mother of four, Cheryl West, lands herself a job at a drugs project in London. But memories of her old life are never far away, especially when her surly daughter, Elaine, makes her unwelcome visits.

Meanwhile, Cheryl’s estranged son, Michael aka Dodo – is ironically having his life destroyed by drug addiction in his attempt to avoid painful memories of abuse. He goes from one chaotic situation to another, ending up on the streets and reaching rock bottom, until he is referred to a drug rehabilitation centre in rural Hampshire where dark family secrets are uncovered.

They’re each on a journey, but can there be reconciliation as well as rehabilitation?

My thoughts:

I really do believe this is a powerful and important book. It gives a voice to some of the more marginalised people in society and raises questions around drug addiction, society’s attitudes to it and the idea of rehabilitation.

I have to admit this book took me a little while to get into and I think it’s because I had different expectations for Cheryl than how she actually came across in her book. I imagined her to be a selfless, loving character and she certainly comes across a lot more self-centred and judgemental than I was expecting.

Michael’s situation is portrayed with a gut-wrenching realism as we see his suffering and traumatic experiences as a result of his drug addiction.

You do have to get used to some of the aspects of the narrative as it can become very much like a stream of consciousness, which at times, due to the reliance on drugs, can make little sense at times. However, this is an important aspect of the book in order for us to understand the mental fragility of the characters, especially Michael.

This is an eye-opening, harrowing and interesting book that I would definitely recommend if you like reading dark fiction, or dark memoirs.

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