Engelse titel: Hard Rain Falling. Aangrijpend boek

Fortunately, it is pretty rare to read such a seriously depressing and sad novel. Jack Levitt, orphan, raised in an orphanage, from which he is being sent to a reform school and from where he emerges embittered by abuse and solitary confinement. Jack never had anything, no personal possessions and, what is worse, nor any affection at all. The lack of affection has shaped him to the person he is. In his life, one depressing event is followed up by the next one and that never lets up. A quote that says it all: ‘Cold rage filled him, rage at his unknown parents, rage at the life he had been given, and for such trivial, stupid reasons! For one wild second of ejaculation! For that, he had been born.’ However, Jack is not in the habit to utter many lamentations.

The novel’s title is ‘Hard Rain Falling’, but it should have been ‘Icecold Hard Hail Stones Falling’. It is educational because you feel that you get a true peek into the lives of abandoned children raised in ice cold conditions. In sober yet clear and unsentimental language, it sets out very clearly what it means to have nobody who cares about you.

The author, Don Carpenter, committed suicide later in life. I am not surprised as you can feel the vibes already in between the lines in this novel. It is clear that I can only recommend this novel to those who do not mind feeling pretty depressed for a while.