Under Rose-Tainted Skies - Louise Gornall

Seriously ill girl emerges from reclusive state out of love for charismatic boy. Teen who hasn’t left house in years rediscovers world. Both these concepts seem to have been done to death in the last few years – in fact, I reviewed a book from the second mould, Because You’ll Never Meet Me by Leah Thomas for Cuckoo myself last year. Louise Gornall’s Under Rose-Tainted Skies takes both ideas, combines them but also twists them around to create something new, insightful and genuinely moving.

Norah is our seventeen-year-old protagonist. She has been confined to her house for four years due to severe agoraphobia, OCD and other mental health issues. When handsome Luke moves in next door, Norah is desperate to appear ‘normal’ to him, first by hiding her condition and then by attempting to cure it. While this may all sound rather cliché, the novel is lifted by several aspects.

Firstly, the characters are solid. Norah’s voice is convincing and original; although she makes some bad choices, the reader can sympathise with her. Her mother is a brilliant character, as is the slightly enigmatic doctor. Luke, like Norah, is flawed but likeable and is far more patient and gentle than many other male YA love interests. The way he and Norah first click on an intellectual level rather than romantically or sexually is refreshing.

Secondly, contemporary teenage life is well captured. Social media plays a key role in the novel, with a stress on how every teen wants to present the online illusion of a perfect, easy life. Although the book is set in California, it avoids many stereotypes of US-set YA. Parties and proms take place but we don’t see them; instead the focus is on the quietly beautiful interactions between Norah and Luke, usually within her house, as they watch films, eat ice cream and dream up an unconventional way of stargazing.

Norah talking the reader through her illness takes up a major part of the novel. It might sound rather textbook were it not for her perky personality and the way descriptions of her illness are mixed with ordinary teen experiences such as falling in love and discovering make-up. It should be noted that there is a graphic self-harm scene that even I found very difficult to read, and I have no experience of it. Readers who have been through something similar might wish to tread carefully.

The early events of the story rely heavily on coincidence and the final big drama has a deus ex machina feel to it. The repeated mentions of Norah’s grandmother being famous also felt irrelevant.

Nevertheless, it is very possible to overlook these quibbles in favour of admiring the lucent writing, great characterisation and general loveliness of this little pink book. On finishing it I was struck by the feeling that I was leaving a world that was familiar yet exotic, sad yet sweet, and one that I would have loved to explore further. Here’s hoping there will be a sequel!


*This review was originally written for Cuckoo Review (New Writing North) and is reprinted with permission*