TAKING BABY FOR A WALK BOOK REVIEW

Title: TAKING BABY FOR A WALK

Author: Katheryn Gossow

ISBN: 9781922311368

Publisher: Odyssey Books

Pages: 208

Source: Review Copy from Henry Poi PR

Finding your brave.

Early Sunday morning in the quiet country town of Stinky Gully, five-year-old Bree-Anna takes her doll Baby for a walk. Jake, passing through, hoping to spend the day with his daughter sees a chubby girl in pink get into a green car. Eloise, a barmaid and part-time cleaner, distracted with protecting her ailing father from her junkie brother, sees pink clothes in loner Randall’s washing basket and doesn’t think twice. Bree-Anna’s precious Baby is locked in a suitcase on top of a wardrobe. She has no one to help her and Bree-Anna must remember all the times she has been brave if she is to survive in Mr Randall’s house.

Official Summary

This is a horribly sad story, I would suggest bracing yourself before you open it. Taking Baby For A Walk leaves you experiencing a child abduction from the child’s point of view. While this is based on extremely sensitive material the author keeps it light on the surface. There are no hardcore scenes, but you can expect a harsh story that will bring a tear to your eye.

Kathryn Gossow drops you straight into the mind of a five-year-old little girl as you open the first book. You see the world through her eyes and experience her uncertainty and decision-making process right from the start. I enjoyed her accuracy with this little girl. She create a realistic tale based on harsh subject matter and managed to keep the story from being explicit.

Bree-Anna is excited because today is the day of Rachel’s birthday party. But mommy is still asleep, and Bree-Anna is not sure what time the party starts. She does not want to be late again, so she puts the baby in her stroller and sneaks out the back door. She can walk to Rachel’s house on her own.

When Mr Randall pulls up alongside her and offers her a ride to Rachel house, Bree-Anna is happy to escape the heat. But Mr Randall is not taking her Rachel house and soon Bree-Anna finds herself locked in a room, waiting for mommy to come to fetch her. What is taking mommy so long? She wants to go home.

This story is extremely moving and had me shed a tear or two while reading. Besides Bree-Anna story the author works in Jake’s story as well. Jake’s wife left him and took his daughter with her. All he wants is to spend time with La-Li and maybe get back together with Carla. But he was the last person to see Bree-Anna and the police is looking for him. This book was a combination of sad stories with some of the characters only briefly crossing paths with one another.

The author did a fantastic job with Bree-Anna. I loved how the reader is dropped into this little girl’s mind and you watch how the circumstances she finds herself in change her. This little girl matures as you flip the pages of the book. It was sad and I felt my heart breaking for this child.

This was such a horrible story – but I loved it. It’s a fast read, with just over 200 pages making it easy to endure the sad pieces.

Taking Baby For A Walk will appeal to you if you are looking for a thriller with a sad edge. A book that will draw a tear but that is not so long you will feel yourself drowning.

About the Author

Bio from the author’s site

Kathryn Gossow has been writing and publishing short and flash fiction in a variety of genres since 2006. Her debut novel Cassandra was a finalist in the Aurealis Awards for Best Fantasy Novel in 2017. Her second novel, The Dark Poet is a mosaic of short stories on the dangers of charisma. Her third novel, Taking Baby for a Walk will be published in 2020.

Kathryn was the winner of an ASA Mentorship, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won a commendation for Flash Fiction from Australia Horror Writers’ Association. Her publisher is Odyssey Books.

Kathryn is a regular blogger and sometimes gardener of her two-acre garden in a pocket of the Brisbane River. When she is writing, her garden is a mess. When she is gardening, she forgets to write. It seems she cannot have both. She writes for that elusive feeling when she gets into the zone and there is nothing else in the world but her and the words that tumble onto the page. She gardens for the tomatoes. Her short fiction has appeared in the StylusLit, Gingerbread House, Black Magazine, AntipodeanSF, Diddle Dog, elimae, Salome Magazine, among other publications.

Thank you to Henry Poi PR for inviting me to review this book. It was a moving story that left me spilling a tear or two along the way. Have you read any of Katheryn Gossow’s short stories? Which is your favourite? Leave a comment below. Thank you for taking the time to read my review, until next time… Happy Reading!