‘This Bright Life’, by Karen Campbell delves realistically in the tough life and grim choices of youngster Gerard who is shouldered with the responsibility of looking after his younger sibling’s while his Mother languishes comatose in a state of drug use,poor mental health and constant bad decisions.
In an instant born of desperation,Gerard’s life changes through his hasty actions,impacting his family circle and altering the course of other people’s existence as well.
The widespread implications of one person’s actions are revealed in the parallel story threads of Claire,a property lawyer,and Margaret,an elderly widow who have chosen effectively to isolate themselves from life and others due to previous harsh experiences .
The limited options for some to thrive due to their birth parents' behaviour ,postcode and even the effects of being pigeonholed no matter how hard they try to escape the cycles of neglect and violence is authentically portrayed in a moving Glaswegian tale.
Almost like a parable for our times that could be set in many cities throughout the world and still ring painfully true.Absorbing,sad and wonderful in its own compassionate way.


Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate Books for an Advance Readers Copy.

Just a brilliant book!

Gerard is twelve, there’s no money for food or electricity, his little brother’s hungry. His mum’s no use. He’s desperate.

Margaret is the elderly widow, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Claire is the passer-by who tries to help.

The knock on effects from that moment will deeply affect all three lives.

What an emotional rollercoaster! It’s frequently bleak and harrowing, but there is some hope and humour. I loved this book so much I’m struggling for words…

I listened to Karen Campbell’s previous book Paper Cup as an audiobook, the narration was absolutely superb. I had a little hesitancy as to whether I’d feel the same magic reading this but it was absolutely compelling, powerful, moving and ultimately life affirming. The plot is frequently unpredictable, with several unexpected directions, and all the better for it.

This should be a Ken Loach movie, it could be a Kes for our times.

Bound to be in my books of the year. Read it as soon as you can.

Thanks to Netgalley and Canongate

Really enjoyed this book. The characters were all likeable and the storyline was excellent. I loved the connections between the characters and their stories and how they all fitted together.
Would definitely recommend - thanks to NetGalley, author and publishers for the ARC.

This book was very moving and emotional. It is a beautiful story, but the manner in which it is written meant I struggled a bit with it. The narrative is predominately written in a very Scottish dialect with a lot of slang and local jargon, which I struggled with. However, it is a beautiful story.

This was so emotional, tackling sensitive topics. I just wanted to hug the characters who were well developed. Very enjoyable

oh Gerard. oh Margaret. oh Claire. i want to hug you all. im sure they represent a fair few people. in fact i know they do. and i know this too well. and so this book hit me in the gut a fair few times. it felt so true. its not cliche or just done to tick certain genre or trope boxes. it was a story of three very different people. people who then happened to be linked. or who happen to have their lives changed by a ripple effect. and it tells so brilliantly of system that isnt there or isnt good enough. its a system where the most vulnerable of people who need the most compassion are often the ones facing the least! and worse they are often the ones targeted with stigma and less care than is humane.
Gerard is a boy who finds himself wanting to do the right thing. and yes he doesnt do the right thing. but what would you do in the same situation. and what comes next for him isnt ever going to help the boy learn or then be cared for in the way he should. so i feared his future. like many other young children in the same situation the treatment of him will just grow fear, resentment and mistrust in both himself and those who should be making his life better not worse. who shouldnt be shaming a child for doing his best to survive.
Margaret of course was hurt. and that is not ok. and what happens for her next seems cruel. and how something so simple when written down on paper...a denture. can actually be so much more and almost everything to one person.
and Claire who witnessed an accident and finds herself in the middle of a mystery she tries her best to solve.
some books are so important and deserve to be told and then read. this is one of them.
this was a great book. and one that wasnt bashful in telling truths. but didnt do it in such a way that sucker punches you but also doesnt hold back in some very important topics.

This Bright Life is an extraordinary exploration of the nature of vulnerability, dysfunction and powerlessness. The intertwining of the characters who are each victims in their own way, yet also the liberators of each other. It explores the difficulties of poverty, childhood, old age, being female, addiction, crime, communication, and the complex consequences of trauma of various kinds. The complexities of difficult lives are laid bare in an unusual and revealing way. We live in a society which now tends to demonise those in such a position, there is a (false) belief that people bring their misfortunes upon themselves, and that if they could just sort themselves out their lives would improve. Here, the intricacies, histories and obstacles are all revealed, along with the consequences they brought about. That while change can take place, it is hard won, and there remain many obstacles. That we are often trapped by our own pasts. Those who are put in authority well meaning but often wide of the mark, unable to appreciate the reality of their charges’ lives, more often disempowering further rather than helping them find a route out. The ending creates a satisfying resolution without descending into sentimentality or predictable outcomes. I would highly recommend it.

Gerald is a 12 year old growing up in Glasgow with a drug dependence mother, he’s trying to look after his sibling, but gets caught while stealing a lady’s purse. This was a really sad book for me, it was great to read about fostering, the child support aspect, but breaking families apart tucked at my heart strings. The author was great at telling this story and was very informative. A well written book with a strong link to children’s welfare. A 4 star read. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a copy.

A highly engagingly written novel about protagonist, 12 year old Gerard and his siblings who face some pretty tricky life situations. This could have been a novel written in an over-sentimental and sickly way, but Campbell doesn't do that, and the story is hopeful, despite tackling some tricky sociological issues. It's a comment on society at the same time as being a compelling work of fiction. Well-written and thought-provoking. My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Oh this is a hard, emotive read.

This story follows three different people whose lives tangle together in an unexpected way.

First we meet Gerard. He is 12 years old, dyslexic, and hiding a secret. His Mum is a drug addict who spends her days passed out on the bed leaving him to care for his young brother and baby sister. Due to his dyslexia, school is hard for him and he has had more than one brush with Social Services. Returning from spending some times with his gang, Gerard finds his sister has a wet nappy, raging nappy rash and there is no food or electric in the house. Leaving his mum unconscious in the bedroom and his siblings, he sets out to solve the problem - his plan: to steal money from the local store while the owner is distracted and then use that money to buy food and put some electric on the meter. Approaching the store he sees an elderly lady with her purse hanging out of her bag...

Next we meet Margaret. She is an elderly woman whose husband has recently died leaving her alone. As her story unfolds we learn that she has a son she is estranged from who lives in Australia with his wife and their son. Margaret has given up her husbands tailoring business and lives in a ground floor flat where she has even let her husbands beloved garden go to ruin. One day, while shopping, she is mugged and her purse is stolen. Knocked to the ground she is badly injured and ends up in hospital with no one sure if she will recover...

Finally we meet Claire. Claire is a property lawyer who is recently divorced. She is moving to the area having let her ex husband keep the house for his wife and his new baby. Claire is quiet and still healing from the trauma of the breakdown of her relationship. On the day she is moving in to her new flat she witnesses a young boy mug an old lady and knock her to the ground. Stopping to help, Claire sees that the lady is choking on her dentures and quickly scoops the teeth out, a decision she comes to regret as no one wants to take them back - the police don't know she has them and the hospital are unhelpful as she isn't a relative.

When next we meet these characters, things have changed. Margaret is home following her stay in hospital but missing her own teeth and no one will listen. Claire is tracking the story of the elderly lady she helped on Facebook as she is still desperate to return the teeth to the rightful owner. Gerard is living with a foster family, having been arrested for the mugging. His siblings live with a different couple near by as he is considered a bad influence on the children and his mother has seemingly disappeared...that is, until she needs him to find something hidden at his Grandmother's house that she believes will be the key to a bright future.

This is a heart-breaking tale of how the system treats people. Margaret feels abandoned and confused and people just disregard her because she is old and Gerard feels like he is the sum total of his Social Services file. Neither is really thought of as a person, but treated like a problem to be solved.

I have worked with children in care, and while their stories are different to Gerard's and his siblings, their distrust of adults in general and people who they perceive as being in charge of what happens to them is exactly as this book portrays.

On a side note, much of the speech or thoughts are written in Scottish Slang and I found this very confusing trying to work out what the words meant - Google search was no help either so a short guide would have been helpful!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Such a heart breaking story set in Glasgow, told from different perspectives - Gerard a 12 year old boy who is lives in difficult circumstances and is trying his best to look out for his family.
Margaret an elder lady who has her own story and a sadness surrounding her.
These 2 characters cross paths in an unexpected way with the help of Claire. This one day changes their lives, setting them all on their own journey of finding theit own voice, and an understanding of what has happened to them.
Campbell has once again tackled sensitive issues brilliantly through her characters and careful observations of trauma and generational trauma. You can't help but feel what the characters are feeling and share their frustration, their desperation and their need to be loved by their family. But overall this is actually a tale of hope and fighting to have your own voice heard.

Thank you to the author and Netgalley for my copy.

Absolute joy to read though at times quite challenging . I loved all the characters, all so real and believable, beautifully written and one to share with staff in the school

It took me a while to get into this but once I did I enjoyed it. It’s tender and touching, with vivid well-drawn characters that go through their own individual journeys then come together at the end. A well-written and engaging novel.

This is a gritty but heart-warming story which features two characters in Glasgow whose lives collide, literally. An elderly widow is knocked over and hospitalised when a young teenage boy steals her purse, trying to buy nappies for his baby sister and we follow them in the events that follow.

I really enjoyed the author's writing style, which includes lots of local dialect in the speech. The characters are all very relatable and the book gives an insight into both of their traumatic backgrounds. I look forward to reading more from this author!

‘This Bright Life’ is a Poignant Story of The Threads That Connect Us

Gerard is a 12-year-old boy who’s just trying to survive. He’s got his younger siblings to take care of and a mother who is, at best, checked out. So one day, when the power goes out and he and his siblings are starving, he makes a decision. One that will change the course of his young life.

He steals an elderly woman’s purse and, in doing so, knocks her to the ground. Margaret is a total stranger to him, but their brief altercation will leave more than just physical wounds. She’s a lonely widow who not only lost her husband, her relationship with her family, and now, she’s lost her mobility and confidence too.

Claire steps in to help Margaret as she’s lying on the floor fighting for breath. When she turns Gerard in, she thinks it’s her civic duty. Claire is a lawyer who believes in the justice system but knows its overwhelming complexities; she also likes to use her job as an excuse to keep people at a distance. But soon she finds herself looking out for Margaret and an unlikely friendship blossoms.

This Bright Life takes turns pulling the threads of these characters’ lives together, weaving an intricate portrait of how a random act of violence can ripple across so many lives. And how, when you start unraveling those threads, it doesn’t seem so random after all. The writing is as crushing as it is wry; these characters have an air of wit about them, even in the face of such hardship. Its style cements you in their world and fluctuates in its intensity based on whose perspective it is.

Through Gerard, we see the trauma of being a child who’s misunderstood and rarely listened to; after the theft, he and his siblings are split up into foster care and he’s forced to toe the line between grateful and hurt. As we unwrap layer after layer of his understanding of the world, it’s heartbreaking to witness his struggle not to fall through the cracks. Gerard is an endearingly tough little boy whose lens is often blurred but never not youthfully honest. The adults around him, from his foster parents to his caseworkers, try their best but can’t possibly understand what he’s been through and how his mind protects him. And the friends and family connections that come in and out of Gerard’s life aren’t always looking out for him—but perhaps there are some who might just save him.

Through Margaret, we see a lifetime of regret; her hard-headed strength is both commendable and often holds her back from truly living. And through Claire, we see a woman unsure of her place in the world; together, they help each other take their first steps back into finding community. I wasn’t as invested in their stories as I was in Gerard’s at first but all three grew on me over time.

Getting three generations of life all coiled around one another is dynamic and keeps the story fresh, allowing us to see each distinct angle and how emotions and empathy can transcend all barriers and backgrounds. It can be heavy-going at times while the pacing flows in and out, but the characters propel the narrative forward with every unsure step they take. This Bright Life is immensely vivid and raw, beautifully illustrating how resilience can be an act of hope—and how sometimes, we all need a little help to keep us going.

Gerard lives in a Glasgow tenement with his drunken mother and two younger siblings whom he tries to look after. The electricity is often off as there’s no money for the meter. Just one mistake changes his life. Will he ever get the help he needs and deserves? So sad at times it was hard to finish.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I'm yet to finish this book but felt compelled to write my review already.
The characters in this book have touched my heart, the author has really brought them to life and as I read their stories I'm also feeling their pain.

Gerard's story, the way you understand him and his pain is just so raw. My heart breaks the further I get into the story and I am just so saddened by the fact that real children may be living his life.
Margaret and Claire- have found each other when they really needed to, even though they didn't realise how much.

I have no idea how this book will end but I hope that Gérard gets a chance and that Margaret or Claire take him under their wing. Even if that doesn't happen I will often remember them and isn't that a sign of a well written book.

I hope this book is a success.
Thank you Netgalley for this ARC, I'm off to read the next chapter.

This is a beautifully crafted and emotional read from the author. It depicts the story of Gerard, a 12 year old boy who ends in care along with his younger siblings. It is very believable, dealing with poverty and addiction, and so well written that you believe the characterisation. The story is very sad but I was completely immersed in the lives of the characters and the Glasgow setting and dialect just brought it all to life. Heartbreaking, emotional and poignant but I highly recommended this totally believable read. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

NO SPOILERS

I have not read Karen Campbell before but the publisher’s description interested me.

This Bright Life is written in the third person, present tense, a tense I feel always puts the reader in the moment, making us part of everything. I liked that. Also, Campbell’s writing is such that Gerard’s thoughts and inner feelings are made known to us and this is a wonderful skill. But, but but…whilst I did like the story very much, for me the plot was predictable and all outcomes inevitable.

The chapters about Gerard and those involved with him I liked. The chapters about Claire and Margaret I didn’t like; it was as if they were written by someone else. I felt the plot here was poor and the characters cliched, and I didn’t care what happened to any of them! The book didn’t need these chapters and either I missed something or they added nothing.

All that said, it is a good story, mostly well written and I know many of you will love it.



Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate Books for the Advanced Review Copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

This Bright Life is beautifully written, and Gerard is such a vivid, heartbreaking character that I felt completely drawn into his world. Karen Campbell does an amazing job of making his voice feel real—you can really hear him and feel what he's going through.

That said, as much as I appreciated the writing, I just couldn’t finish this book. It’s one of those stories that’s so heavy and sad that I had to put it down. It promises an uplifting ending, but I didn’t get that far. Gerard’s life is tough, and when he makes that one bad decision that changes everything, it’s devastating to watch the fallout.

The book really shines a light on how easy it is for kids to slip through the cracks, even when there are adults around who are supposed to help. It’s so well done that it almost felt too real at times. I’m sure the hopeful ending is worth it for those who can push through, but for me, the sadness overwhelmed everything else.