Book review: Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth

Cover yet to come!

A new Sally Hepworth novel has to rocket straight to the top of my reading list – she’s a great storyteller.

Eighty-one year old Elsie Mabel Fitzpatrick lives a quietish life on Kenny Lane, but what her neighbours don’t generally know is that Elsie was once the notorious Mabel Waller – the youngest person in Australia ever to be imprisoned for murder. Dubbed “Mad Mabel” from an early age, bodies piled up around her throughout her childhood.

From the outset, when Elsie/Mabel tells us she’s always liked to think she was special, because elderly women and little girls aren’t expected to commit murder, we’re led down a path of thinking she’s a bit of a monster. She’s certainly not particularly nice to her neighbours, including a little girl determined to befriend her. Only her old friend, Daphne, sees a different side of her.

However, Mabel’s real story, once it gradually unfolds – in past and in present – is a bit different from the one the public has grown up with. From a friendless child to a lonely teenager and beyond, is Mabel really the villain of her story?

There are some great characters here – as well as Mabel herself there’s persistent young Persephone and her mum Roxanne, Aldi-obsessed neighbour Peter (“Pete the Greek”), and in the past, the magnificent Cess and Ness (Cecily and Vanessa).

I was left with a few unanswered questions, mainly around Mabel’s father, but that’s okay.

The ending is both shocking and moving.

Mad Mabel was an absolutely cracking read which I can highly recommend. My only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough! Thanks for the opportunity to read and review.