Stephanie Jane reviewed Down The Tubes by Kate Rigby
An enjoyable albeit traumatic narrative
4 stars
Down The Tubes is the third of Kate Rigby's novels I read, after Far Cry From The Turquoise Room and Thalidomide Kid. I thought Down The Tubes had more in common with Far Cry in that it tells its story from the perspectives of a parent and their child, in this case Cheryl and her adult son Michael. Cheryl is such an interesting woman to get to know, especially in the 1980s context of this novel when an openly independent career woman would still have seemed unusual. I loved the way in which Rigby portrayed the fractured family left in Cheryl's wake and, as readers, we don't initially know to extent she could be considered responsible for this maternal 'failure' and how much of the blame is her internalised guilt. The job interview is such an accurate example of how women had to edit their personal lives in order to …
Down The Tubes is the third of Kate Rigby's novels I read, after Far Cry From The Turquoise Room and Thalidomide Kid. I thought Down The Tubes had more in common with Far Cry in that it tells its story from the perspectives of a parent and their child, in this case Cheryl and her adult son Michael. Cheryl is such an interesting woman to get to know, especially in the 1980s context of this novel when an openly independent career woman would still have seemed unusual. I loved the way in which Rigby portrayed the fractured family left in Cheryl's wake and, as readers, we don't initially know to extent she could be considered responsible for this maternal 'failure' and how much of the blame is her internalised guilt. The job interview is such an accurate example of how women had to edit their personal lives in order to get rewarding employment and, too often, still do now.
I found it more difficult to connect with Michael although I appreciate how Rigby captures his complicated personality and fragile self-esteem. If you're as squeamish about needles as I am, there are a couple of drug use scenes you might want to read through your fingers, but it's absolutely worth doing so in order to read this powerful story of addiction. Rigby's former work in this area gives Down The Tubes a strong ring of authenticity and, while some of the theories and practices might have changed over the past forty years, her understanding of the psychology of addiction is still very relevant. I feel awkward saying I 'enjoyed' Down The Tubes because it seems to light a word for such a traumatic narrative, but I'm glad to have had this opportunity to read the book and I'm now looking forward to picking up its sequel, The Colour Of Wednesday.