Bibliography
Minette Walters, Acid Row. Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd, 2002 (first published 2001 by Macmillan), 377 pages.
Summary
Sophie is a health visitor, for the suburb Acid Row. A pedophile lives there and there lives lots of mothers there with children without a father. On a Saturday she has to visit a man, but he seems to be the pedophile. At the same moment a young girl named Amy is missing. And there starts a riot in front of the house where Sophie is captured by the pedophile. Sophie calls her work office so they know what is going on. The police are checking the parents of Amy, because they know more then they tell the police.
Jimmy has heard that Sophie is captured and he wants to rescue her. When Jimmy wants to rescue Sophie, he is slapped knock out by one of the two men who are living in the house. Amy is found by the police in hotel with Edward, the ex of her mother. Edward has been extorting Martin Amy’s father. While Jimmy is rescuing Sophie, a neighbor, Wesley, has killed the wrong man. A man who was committed burglary. He thought that that person was a pedophile, Wesley screams to the riot outside, that he has killed the pedophile. And the people outside shout of gain the victory.
At the end the community decides that they will build up Acid Row again. It will be a whole new area. And the people regret their fury.
Characters
Sophie Morrison is a young doctor and health visitor. She is engaged, but lives alone at the moment. Sophie is a smart and friendly woman, but does the things she wants. No one could spot her for doing something. As the story goes on, Sophie gets more and more fretful.
Amy is 10 years old and she still sucks her thumb at nigh. She can’t even decide between fish fingers and sausage for tea (p.38). Amy is 4’ 10 tall and her weight is 60 lb. She is looking slim, long brown hair, and she is wearing a blue T-shirt and black leggings the day she has disappeared. Amy Rogerson thinks that she has the same responsibility as an adult. She doesn’t like her mother and her real father. The only person she get on with, is the last ex of her mother, Edward Townsend. Amy thinks that the more money people will give you, the more they care about you.
Melanie and Jimmy are expecting a baby. Jimmy is black and he wants to rescue Sophie. He is very brave and doesn’t really care about what other people think of him. Melanie is the person who organized the riot in from of 23 Humbert Street after she has heard that a pedophile is living there.
Martin and Laura Rogerson are Amy’s parents. They broke up a couple of years ago. At the moment Martin is the lawyer of the ex of Laura.
Time
The story takes just a couple of days. It starts on 19 July 2001 and ends on 28 July 2001. But the first 7 days nothing has happened, that part is an introduction to the real story. And there is an extra chapter called” after two months” in that chapter they tell you that Melanie and Jimmy’s baby is born.
The story starts when Amy is missing and ends when Amy is found and Sophie is saved.
Place
Acid Row is the main place. People are unhappy and there are riots almost every day. 23 Humbert Street, is at Acid Row it is the place where Sophie is captured. And we follow the things that will happen outside and inside the house there.
Another place is the Hampshire Police Headquarters, this is an important place for Amy’ story. There are several conversations with the people Amy knows.
Nightingale Health Centre is the centre Sophie works for, they also have contact with the police.
And a little takes place at Bassindale Estate. That a place very near to Humbert Street. Jimmy does a couple of things there, but is not very important for the story.
Acid Row reminds me of same suburbs of Paris, because there is happening the same. The people don’t know what to do, the just make noise and annoy each other and brake things.
Structure
The structure is mostly chronological, but the book starts with a flash forward, because the end is told first. So you know how it ends, but you don’t know what the story exactly is about.
Since there are several storylines, the different lines are intertwined. For example, at one moment you are reading what is going on at 23 Humbert Street, and then suddenly you are reading about Amy. Sometimes it is very confusing, about whom you are reading.
On the one hand there is a closed ending for Amy, because the police will find her. But on the other hand the reader doesn’t know what has happened to Sophie and the polish people.
Point of view
The story is told in a personal narrator (1st person narrator) and auctorial narrator (3rd person narrator). So you can see the story from different angles. Sometimes it is very confusing, because you don’t know who is talking to whom. But it is clear in the way that you know the feelings and the way the person thinks. So if you know the subject and who is having a conversation with whom, it is very nice to have the story told by a personal narrator.
There would be a different if the story were told by a different narrator, like in an I-perspective. You can only read what that particularly person thinks and does. It would be very complicated by then. Because you have no idea what others like to do or don’t do.
Title
Acid Row. A place of deprivation where literacy was poor, drugs endemics and fights commonplace (p.10). This is the neighborhood where Sophie cares for and where she is captured.
Dedication/Motto
For Sheonagh and Pat. I think that those people are close to the writer, or are an inspiration to her for writing this book.
Theme/Opinion
The disappearing of Amy is the keynote. The story starts with it and ends with it. The reason Sophie is captured, is that the people outside think that the two polish people have Amy.
The reason why there so many pedophiles are in the story is because they all have a reason for capturing Amy. I also think that the writer wants to say, that there are different kinds of pedophilia. Because there are several of them in the story, Edward Townsend, the two Polish people (Franek and Nicholas) and the one who is killed by Jimmy at 23 Humbertstreet, you cannot judge them by their appearance. There was no proof only suspicion, that the man who is killed by Jimmy is guilty for pedophilia.
Franek was found guilty of pedophilia twice and his son has nothing to do with it. But he support his father in everything the does. They have not abducted Amy, but people think they have and want to kill Amy.
The father of Amy is jealous that she goes further with the ex of Laura, because he likes to take pictures of naked adults and children. He says that he won’t put it on the internet, but there is suspicion that he will do that. The father of Amy is extorted by the ex of Amy’s mother. Because if Martin says where Amy is, Edward will put the naked pictures of Amy on the internet. So Edward is not a rapist, but he is guilty of extortion.
Father likes porn, but just from adults. He takes pictures of Amy, naked, but be prefers real women. The point the author seems to make here, is that not every person who looks like a pedophile is one, or that not every pedophile rapes and kills children. And if someone is unkind, it doesn’t always mean they are a criminal, it’s about truth and appearance.
Still, the people in Acid Row want to kill someone, who is bad. But it doesn’t matter who it will be. That situation reminds me of Paris. There are areas there where the people don’t know what they are doing. They don’t like their homes and they don’t know what to do, so they go with the mainstream and revolt against the authorities.
I like the book, but not all the time. I found it hard to read because it is a very complicated story. The story itself is very interesting. You see what is happening in a suburb like Acid Row. I think that the things that are happening in the book could be real. I do think that, because I think that the situation is very similar to Paris and the things I have heard are likely to Acid Row.
Minette Walters, Acid Row. Pan Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan Ltd, 2002 (first published 2001 by Macmillan), 377 pages.
Summary
Sophie is a health visitor, for the suburb Acid Row. A pedophile lives there and there lives lots of mothers there with children without a father. On a Saturday she has to visit a man, but he seems to be the pedophile. At the same moment a young girl named Amy is missing. And there starts a riot in front of the house where Sophie is captured by the pedophile. Sophie calls her work office so they know what is going on. The police are checking the parents of Amy, because they know more then they tell the police.
Jimmy has heard that Sophie is captured and he wants to rescue her. When Jimmy wants to rescue Sophie, he is slapped knock out by one of the two men who are living in the house. Amy is found by the police in hotel with Edward, the ex of her mother. Edward has been extorting Martin Amy’s father. While Jimmy is rescuing Sophie, a neighbor, Wesley, has killed the wrong man. A man who was committed burglary. He thought that that person was a pedophile, Wesley screams to the riot outside, that he has killed the pedophile. And the people outside shout of gain the victory.
Characters
Sophie Morrison is a young doctor and health visitor. She is engaged, but lives alone at the moment. Sophie is a smart and friendly woman, but does the things she wants. No one could spot her for doing something. As the story goes on, Sophie gets more and more fretful.
Amy is 10 years old and she still sucks her thumb at nigh. She can’t even decide between fish fingers and sausage for tea (p.38). Amy is 4’ 10 tall and her weight is 60 lb. She is looking slim, long brown hair, and she is wearing a blue T-shirt and black leggings the day she has disappeared. Amy Rogerson thinks that she has the same responsibility as an adult. She doesn’t like her mother and her real father. The only person she get on with, is the last ex of her mother, Edward Townsend. Amy thinks that the more money people will give you, the more they care about you.
Melanie and Jimmy are expecting a baby. Jimmy is black and he wants to rescue Sophie. He is very brave and doesn’t really care about what other people think of him. Melanie is the person who organized the riot in from of 23 Humbert Street after she has heard that a pedophile is living there.
Martin and Laura Rogerson are Amy’s parents. They broke up a couple of years ago. At the moment Martin is the lawyer of the ex of Laura.
Time
The story takes just a couple of days. It starts on 19 July 2001 and ends on 28 July 2001. But the first 7 days nothing has happened, that part is an introduction to the real story. And there is an extra chapter called” after two months” in that chapter they tell you that Melanie and Jimmy’s baby is born.
The story starts when Amy is missing and ends when Amy is found and Sophie is saved.
Place
Acid Row is the main place. People are unhappy and there are riots almost every day. 23 Humbert Street, is at Acid Row it is the place where Sophie is captured. And we follow the things that will happen outside and inside the house there.
Nightingale Health Centre is the centre Sophie works for, they also have contact with the police.
And a little takes place at Bassindale Estate. That a place very near to Humbert Street. Jimmy does a couple of things there, but is not very important for the story.
Acid Row reminds me of same suburbs of Paris, because there is happening the same. The people don’t know what to do, the just make noise and annoy each other and brake things.
Structure
The structure is mostly chronological, but the book starts with a flash forward, because the end is told first. So you know how it ends, but you don’t know what the story exactly is about.
Since there are several storylines, the different lines are intertwined. For example, at one moment you are reading what is going on at 23 Humbert Street, and then suddenly you are reading about Amy. Sometimes it is very confusing, about whom you are reading.
On the one hand there is a closed ending for Amy, because the police will find her. But on the other hand the reader doesn’t know what has happened to Sophie and the polish people.
Point of view
The story is told in a personal narrator (1st person narrator) and auctorial narrator (3rd person narrator). So you can see the story from different angles. Sometimes it is very confusing, because you don’t know who is talking to whom. But it is clear in the way that you know the feelings and the way the person thinks. So if you know the subject and who is having a conversation with whom, it is very nice to have the story told by a personal narrator.
There would be a different if the story were told by a different narrator, like in an I-perspective. You can only read what that particularly person thinks and does. It would be very complicated by then. Because you have no idea what others like to do or don’t do.
Acid Row. A place of deprivation where literacy was poor, drugs endemics and fights commonplace (p.10). This is the neighborhood where Sophie cares for and where she is captured.
Dedication/Motto
For Sheonagh and Pat. I think that those people are close to the writer, or are an inspiration to her for writing this book.
Theme/Opinion
The disappearing of Amy is the keynote. The story starts with it and ends with it. The reason Sophie is captured, is that the people outside think that the two polish people have Amy.
The reason why there so many pedophiles are in the story is because they all have a reason for capturing Amy. I also think that the writer wants to say, that there are different kinds of pedophilia. Because there are several of them in the story, Edward Townsend, the two Polish people (Franek and Nicholas) and the one who is killed by Jimmy at 23 Humbertstreet, you cannot judge them by their appearance. There was no proof only suspicion, that the man who is killed by Jimmy is guilty for pedophilia.
Franek was found guilty of pedophilia twice and his son has nothing to do with it. But he support his father in everything the does. They have not abducted Amy, but people think they have and want to kill Amy.
The father of Amy is jealous that she goes further with the ex of Laura, because he likes to take pictures of naked adults and children. He says that he won’t put it on the internet, but there is suspicion that he will do that. The father of Amy is extorted by the ex of Amy’s mother. Because if Martin says where Amy is, Edward will put the naked pictures of Amy on the internet. So Edward is not a rapist, but he is guilty of extortion.
Father likes porn, but just from adults. He takes pictures of Amy, naked, but be prefers real women. The point the author seems to make here, is that not every person who looks like a pedophile is one, or that not every pedophile rapes and kills children. And if someone is unkind, it doesn’t always mean they are a criminal, it’s about truth and appearance.
I like the book, but not all the time. I found it hard to read because it is a very complicated story. The story itself is very interesting. You see what is happening in a suburb like Acid Row. I think that the things that are happening in the book could be real. I do think that, because I think that the situation is very similar to Paris and the things I have heard are likely to Acid Row.
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