From Bruised Fell

June M. Blurton is a retired speech/language pathologist.

Set in England and Canada in the 1960s and ’70s, From Bruised Fell is
the story of a dysfunctional family. Joanne, the older daughter, is a
“goody-two-shoes” according to her mother. But then her mother is
very unstable, even less stable than Ruby, her younger daughter.

After his wife walks out, Joanne’s father holds things together. But
he also brings Cerise and her son into the family, causing misery for
the girls. Ruby sinks further and further into psychosomatic illness.
Joanne eventually finds an uneasy peace. One of the novel’s most
dramatic scenes occurs 10 years later, when she finds her mother on her
doorstep.

The characters are wonderfully distinctive, from Aunt Margaret’s
wobbling facial mole to the father’s unique body language. The story
is told from Joanne’s point of view, and in a voice that lightens the
essential sadness of the theme. Some of the descriptions are
repetitious, but there is tension, and the reader is quickly drawn into
the story.