SuitabookAbomination
Robert Swindells
- Reading
- Consider reading alongside the child, pausing after revelations about family rules, the secret and Martha’s friendship. Invite reactions without requiring personal disclosure, and check in after troubling scenes.
- Themes
- Friendship under pressure: Martha and Scott are isolated at school but become friends, and Scott helps Martha question her situation. The book presents this favourably.
- Religious control and personal freedom: Martha is raised in the strict Brethren, whose rules govern her life and restrict contact with the wider world. The overview says the novel critically examines extreme practices and their effects on children, while also noting that religion may empower or restrict individuals.
- Secrecy, loyalty and truth: Martha must decide whether to help keep Abomination hidden or question the secrecy demanded by her parents. The premise sets family loyalty against truth and protection, inviting consideration of when secrecy may harm someone.
- Worth knowing
- The story includes parental abuse, oppressive religious control, bullying or taunting at school, isolation, secrecy, and a hidden child described as a creature. These elements may make parts of the novel disturbing.