Books like Window

After really enjoying 'Belonging' I expected to love 'Window' just as much. Perhaps it was reading the authors note about ecological damage after reading in her last book how she collected sponges for her collage that made this seem a like an example of practise what you preach, but where I found 'Belonging' subtle and touching I found this frustrating. The story starts with a mother and baby looking at a countryside close to utopia, mountains and trees, nothing else. Like 'Belonging' this window scene shows small details to mark the passing of the baby's years. I found the book very negative, within 16 years this isolated house in the country has had a city spring up around it complete with airport, even the mountains disappear. Decay in the garden accompanies a missile hung from the window, a boy aiming a catapult, mac Donald's packets on the windowsill. When the boy grows up and has a baby of his own he moves away to an ideal spot of unspoilt beauty and you can tell what you're meant to think happens next.A pity, 'Belonging' was lovely but this felt like being sledgehammered with a message and then hit again once you'd got up. The illustrations are intricate and interesting.