I have to say that I really enjoyed The Bridge of Little Jeremy.
The story is told by Jeremy, a 12 year old boy who shows maturity beyond his years. His best friend is his dog, Leon but he has regular encounters with other people like Mathilde who is a neighbour and Paolo, a stall holder to whom he sells his paintings. He lives with his mum who is extremely hard-working and cares deeply for Jeremy.
The plot centres around Jeremy helping his mother financially and thinking about ways in which he can do this without her realising it. He is an intelligent, caring boy who is faced with his own difficulties but always seems to be looking outwards, towards others.
There are lots of things to like about this book. Jeremy’s narrative takes us on a tour of Paris where we learn about the favourite spots where he likes to visit and take Leon and you get a sense of Paris as a place to live, a locality which is familiar as Jeremy’s home. I loved the relationship that Jeremy has with Leon, verging on fantastical with the way that Jeremy intuits Leon’s expressions as indicators of, for example, his dismay or acquiescence for something that Jeremy has said. You get the sense that these two are tightly bonded and it creates warmth throughout the book.
Jeremy’s mum is in a predicament, not of her own making, but as a result of certain tax initiatives that governments set up and this threatens both Jeremy’s and her stability, in more ways than just financial. This is key to the action of the book and Garai prompts discussion of this – the unfairness of certain taxes – but it does not dominate to become a political treatise, staying peripheral to the story of Jeremy.
I think that the novel has wide appeal for young readers to adults alike and if you are looking for a book which holds the warmth of humanity in a gently told, simple story, then this would be a good choice for you.
Easy to read and nicely put together, I felt quite charmed by it.
I was privileged to be offered this book as an ARC. This review is a true and fair reflection of my opinion of the book.
Scuffed Granny 