I listened to the marvelous Bolinda audio version of Abomination by Robert Swindells. Martha is a loner at school, chased by her classmates, bullied and ignored. That all changes when Scott moves to town and befriends her. But there is more to Martha’s story than just not fitting in. Her home life is abusive and cold because her parents belong to a strict religious sect. Martha is beaten and not allowed any freedom, but she knows it could be worse. It could be worse because she could be like Abomination, living in a cage in the cellar and taken care of through the bars.
The story unfolds at a cruelly slow pace with the reader coming to understand what Abomination really is. Both Scott and Martha’s characters are fully developed and complex. Unfortunately, Martha’s parents are less well drawn, sometimes becoming cardboard. I also had problems with the final resolution of the story, where Martha manages to get out of her situation without getting her parents into any trouble. With such a complicated subject and complex characters, I felt the ending could have used some complexity as well. That said, this book is worth reading for the characters of the two children. Just be ready to get ticked off by the neat resolution.