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    Ketchup Clouds
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    Ketchup Clouds
    Unavailable
    Ketchup Clouds
    Audiobook7 hours

    Ketchup Clouds

    Written by Annabel Pitcher

    Narrated by Julie Maisey

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Dear Mr. S. Harris,

    Ignore the blob of red in the top left corner. It's jam, not blood, though I don't think I need to tell you the difference. It wasn't your wife's jam the police found on your shoe...

    Zoe has an unconventional pen pal-Mr. Stuart Harris, a Texas Death Row inmate and convicted murderer. But then again, Zoe has an unconventional story to tell. A story about how she fell for two brothers, betrayed one of them, and killed the other.

    Hidden away in her backyard shed in the middle of the night with a jam sandwich in one hand and a pen in the other, Zoe gives a voice to her heart and her fears after months of silence. Mr. Harris may never respond to Zoe's letters, but at least somebody will know her story – somebody who knows what it's like to kill a person you love. Only through her unusual confession can Zoe hope to atone for her mistakes that have torn lives apart, and work to put her own life back together again.

    Rising literary star Annabel Pitcher pens a captivating second novel, rich with her distinctive balance between humor and heart. Annabel explores the themes of first love, guilt, and grief, introducing a character with a witty voice and true emotional resonance.

    A Hachette Audio production.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHachette Audio
    Release dateNov 12, 2013
    ISBN9781478925125
    Unavailable
    Ketchup Clouds
    Author

    Annabel Pitcher

    Annabel Pitcher nació en un pueblo de Yorkshire y estudió Filología Inglesa en la universidad Oxford, y desde entonces ha trabajado en medios de comunicación y como profesora de inglés. Su afán por escribir una novela le hizo viajar por el mundo, tomando notas en autobuses peruanos, en el Amazonas y a la sombra de los templos vietnamitas, lo que dio origen a esta novela. Actualmente vive en Yorkshire.

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    Reviews for Ketchup Clouds

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Zoe feels guilty, really really guilty. She has done something wicked, and has been unable to tell anyone else her story. So she tells it all in a series of confessional letters to a prisoner on Death Row in the US.I wasn't sure about this initial premise, actually, that someone Zoe's age would be inspired to confess her misdeeds to a Death Row prisoner, inspired by a campaigning nun who visits her school. Not only do we only see her letters to him, it is fairly obvious that this is a one-sided correspondence, a monologue. However, Zoe does say that she has always wanted to be a writer, and that makes this slightly awkward bit easier to get past, and I'm sure the internet has opened up all kinds of possibilities for sensitive young girls dreaming of a literary career since my teens! Once over this hurdle, her story is well written and very readable. Pitcher skilfully weaves together the details of a girl growing up and of everyday life in a family under a lot of strain - Mum and Dad argue all the time and Zoe is eaten up by guilt.Zoe's confession is fleshed out with word portraits of her family - Pitcher's descriptions of little sister Dot and Mum make them seem quite real. The Death Row prisoner remains an enigma, but while Zoe makes sympathetic references to what he must be experiencing, she remains very focused on her own story.All in all, a quirky, thought provoking read, sad but with a lot of humour at the same time - well worth a read or even a reread by sensitive teenage girls and boys and anyone who was once one.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      One thing I can say for Ketchup Clouds is that it's definitely a unique read and I can't think of another book quite like it. Ketchup Clouds is told from the point of view of Zoe (an alias), a teenager suffering from debilitating guilt. From what, we're not exactly sure. Zoe decides to share her story with a death row prison inmate in order to assuage her guilt and share her secret with someone. Zoe relates to the inmate because, in her mind, she's killed someone as well. Through Zoe's letters, the reader learns about the events leading up to the fateful day that would change Zoe's life forever and leave one young man dead.I don't read many epistolary novels (novels written through documents, like letters and diary entries). I think it's really hard to do well. Zoe's letters read more like diary entries and I think the book would have worked better for me if that's what they were. Instead, the letters feel awkward and gimmick-y. It also bothered me that Zoe took such a long time to tell her story. She confesses a burning desire to share her tale, and then takes months to do it, even as the inmate's execution draws near.Zoe starts writing to this inmate because she says can relate to his crimes. However, after hearing her whole story, I found it hard to believe that she would identify so much with a man who murdered his wife and her lover after he caught them cheating. Zoe feels like she murdered someone but the situations were so different it was hard for me to believe she'd relate so much, though I guess it just shows how guilty Zoe feels.Zoe is an interesting character though not one that I can say I really like. She really likes one brother but starts going out with another because he happens to be available. While I don't expect every character to be a paradigm of good human behavior, I found Zoe's actions to be very selfish and immature. She's acting like a normal teenager but there was just something about it that rubbed me the wrong way. She did win a few points with me though with her relationship to her sister. She was very protective of her and their relationship was very sweet.As for the romance in the story, I definitely fell on the Team Aaron side. It was clear to me that Zoe and Aaron had so much more in common and more chemistry than Zoe and Max. I think that's why I was so annoyed that she kept things going with Max because she and Aaron seemed to have a much deeper connection.This book was really a mixed bag for me. The overall premise is original but the execution was not quite there and it fell short of my expectations. It's still a worthwhile read just because it is very unique point of view and the identity of which brother died left me guessing until the very end. No doubt this book will find fans, but it just wasn't for me.
    • 4/5
      Families are wonderful things - dysfunctional in many ways, full of individuals with their own worries and foibles but when it comes to the really tough times, many can pull out resources to support each other. This story is all about Zoe - and being a teenager it really is all about her but in the background is a wonderful family going about their business and trying to support their daughter.
    • 3/5
      Epistolary novel in which "Zoe" shares her story with a Texas death row inmate about a murder she was responsible for. The letters are written over the course of the school year and end shortly after the one year memorial service. Zoe relates both the heady events of the previous year--when she meets two young men at a house party--juxtaposed against her present life of parental drama, gnawing guilt and lost love. The mystery lies in discovering which boy dies, and the author does a good job keeping that secret pretty close to the vest. Most readers will probably jump to the correct conclusion on their own, in addition to deciding how culpable Zoe actually is in the death.

      The writing is often beautifully expressive and the "torn between two lovers" plot will undoubtably reel readers in. However, Zoe doesn't come off as entirely likable, although some readers may be more forgiving of her actions. She is at her best when she's interacting with her sisters whom she clearly loves. How moved readers are by Annabel Pitcher's book will depend on how sympathetically Zoe is perceived. An exploration of love and betrayal and the selfish and selfless acts that define one's life.
    • 3/5
      Zoe decides to correspond with a a man on death row for killing his wife because she is overwhelmed by her own guilt over the death of her boyfriend a year earlier. During most of the exchange of letters, the reader does not really know which boy has died or how it happened. since Zoe describes the situation in considerable detail, meanwhile avoiding describing the actual event. Once I started thinking how unrealistic Zoe's letter writing style was, as well as the unlikelihood of such a correspondence ever taking place, I found this epistolary-styled novel mostly irritating.
    • 4/5
      "...my stomach ached with disappointment at the familiarity of it all. Humans. We're all the same. There's no escaping it...Doesn't matter what language you speak or what clothes you wear. Some things don't change. Families. Friends. Lovers. They're the same in every city in every country in every continent of the world."If you're a Netflixter, then you're aware of the unique rating algorithm that essentially takes the guess work out of whether you will love or hate a movie based on your past ratings. It would be awesome if Goodreads had a similar system (hint, hint) instead of basing ratings on how others rated a book. Not to knock Goodreads too much, the site has actually turned me on to several books that I would have otherwise never given a second glance. Ketchup Clouds is a stellar example of a book I would have never found on my own. Zoe seeks out a Texas Death Row inmate as a pen pal. Writing from the shelter of her garden shed in the UK, she relates the events of the previous year. Riddled with guilt over the death of her boyfriend, she confides in her penpal about her guilt, family life, and all the events leading up to the sad conclusion.I have to say that based on the dust jacket, this turned out to be quite different than I expected...in a good way! It was a pleasant read, and I came away with the quote above. As imperfect humans, we all make mistakes, and sometimes the moving on part can be the hardest thing to do. I think this was the perfect book for me to read at the right time, which probably supports the 4-star rating. If you read this book, I hope you find just as much meaning in it as I did. I look forward to reading My Sister Lives On The Mantelpiece.
    • 2/5
      Zoe (an alias) is a teenage girl who was caught in a love triangle with two brothers. After the death of one of the boys she adopts a false name and begins a one sided correspondence with a death row inmate in Texas. Zoe attempts to exercise her guilt by describing the relationships and justifying her behavior with each boys in the letters. It is an unconventional form of therapy but seems to work for her.
    • 4/5
      This turned out to be a little different from what I expected. From the 'teenage girl writing to a serial killer' premise, I'd expected a thriller more akin to Belinda Bauer's Blacklands. What I GOT was something that was more like a fusion of Laurie Halse Anderson and Malorie Blackman: a pitch-perfect, wry and beautifully told story of a young woman spilling her darkest secrets to someone she hopes might understand. It's gripping, yes, and provocative, but in a heartstring-tugging and realistic way rather than a chilling one.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book of letters written by an English teen-ager to a Texas death row inmate. You never read any of his letters, just hers, but through them, you learn why she is writing to him. I loved the ending and thought she was much harsher on herself than I was.
    • 5/5
      Zoe has a dark secret... a secret that she's been carrying with her since a tragic day in May. Though no one would ever suspect it, Zoe is a murderer. She killed a boy she was supposed to love and got away with it. But the guilt of her actions keep her awake at night and drive her to seek out an unconventional pen pal, a Mr. Stuart Harris. Mr. Harris might be the only person who can understand how Zoe feels... he may be the only person she can confess to. After all, Mr. Harris also killed someone he was supposed to love, his wife, and he now sits on death row in Texas. So begins Zoe's story, told entirely in letters written from a cold, damp shed to a death row inmate an ocean away. Slowly, the events that led to a deadly May day unfold, culminating in a thrilling, heartwrenching conclusion. An off-beat story fill with wry, dark humor and a bittersweet romance, KETCHUP CLOUDS is a story of love, loss, and, ultimately, redemption.KETCHUP CLOUDS is one of the best books I've read in years. I've only read two other books that I've loved like this: JELLICOE ROAD and THE SKY IS EVERYWHERE. These are the books - the stories - that I wish I could experience again for the very first time.Annabel Pitcher's sophomore novel is character driven and, except for the final few pages, is told entirely in letters from Zoe to Mr. Harris, convicted murderer and death row inmate. No responses from Mr. Harris are included in the text; this is very much Zoe's story... Zoe's confession. But it's important that these letters are to someone, not, for example, diary entries, because Zoe needs to be writing to someone who she feels can understand her guilt. At the same time, the epistolary format allows for a relationship to develop between Zoe and her pen pal, a relationship filled with awkward truths, dark humor, and painful memories. And it's fitting, and perhaps necessary, that Zoe never receives a letter back from Mr. Harris, this way, she can tell her story and come to terms with what happened while feeling protected by anonymity. For Zoe, confessing her secrets is cathartic.Because Zoe starts at the beginning, long before she was a self-proclaimed murderer, much of the book focuses on the events leading up to the murder. Through Zoe's careful telling, the events come together slowly, fitting together like a puzzle. Zoe tells Mr. Harris about her life at home: her parents' marital issues, her sister being bullied, her littlest sister, deaf, struggling to learn to read lips. With all the drama happening at home, no one notices Zoe... or the start of her relationship with two brothers, a relationship that ends with one dead. But, in the midst of all this darkness, there is so much love. The love between Zoe and her family, even when things seem to be spinning out of control at home. The slow, sweet love that builds between Zoe and a boy that she can't forget, even when their love could hurt those closest to them. Zoe never imagined that her actions could end in death and, as I read, I kept hoping that they wouldn't. Hoping that, somehow, there could be a happy ending for Zoe.I want to take this book and press it in to the hands of every reader I know. I hope that everyone that reads it falls as madly in love with it as I did.
    • 3/5
      So, I struggled with this one. Most of the book was fine, but I could not get over the fact Max took the cellphone picture without her consent and sent it to someone else, who then sent it to the school. Then it was just barely glanced over. Like, what? No one in the school even seemed to care, and I am not in high school, but I feel like that's not the kind of thing that just goes around to everyone and is never mentioned again. Then, she took Max back after like an hour as if it never even mattered. It made me pretty angry.

      The end of the book made up for it, though. It was very sad and touching, and I like the angle of her letters to the man on death row.
    • 4/5
      I loved Annabel Pitcher's writing style; I really felt myself as being inside the mind of a British teenage girl. And I loved the story progression. I can't give Ketchup Clouds five stars only because I felt that the abusive behavior of Max at the start of the story, taking advantage of a drunk girl and taking an indecent photo of her, was never adequately addressed for the teenage readers of the story. There are already too many YA books out there that condone rape culture.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book and thought it was imaginative. Much better than the book by 'Drive By' by Jim Carrington which also deals with the very similar issue of accidental killing in a totally different way
    • 4/5
      Zoe has a guilty secret – one that she can’t tell anyone. So she decides to write to a prisoner on death row and tell him. About her parents and her sisters and the family secret she discovered. About how she was attracted to one boy but started going out with another and the awful event that occurred which she feels responsible for.This book is written as a series of letters and so the events don’t unfold in strict chronological order. Zoe is a convincing narrator and her letters are chatty and often amusing. Although you learn very early on what Zoe thinks she has done, the truth of the events is only revealed right at the end of the book. This book would appeal to teen girls who enjoy realistic fiction.