The book follows the story of Chrissie, an 8 year old child who commits a terrible crime – and 15 years later, single Mum Julia and her 5 year old daughter Molly.

With the historic storyline, you know that the crime has been committed from the start – so it’s not really a mystery – you’re just working through how everything happened and Chrissie’s actions were discovered.

This is not an easy read, and at the start I did wonder if I would persevere. Chrissie has such an awful upbringing and her circumstances are so very sad with her witnessing and being subjected to neglect and violence. Whilst it doesn’t forgive what she does – it does go some way to explain it. Her life is just horrible. It’s written in a way that just accepts that is the norm – it doesn’t glamourise or play down the situation – it’s just taken as that is Chrissie’s lot in life. Sadly I expect this is the case for lots of children around the country, it’s just many of us are protected from seeing that on a day to day basis.

To be honest, Julie and Molly’s life isn’t much better – and is equally harrowing at times. There is limited light and shade in this book, it is all pretty dark, although there are glimmers of hope towards the end. You really hope that the chain has finally been broken.

Despite the distressing content, I did want to keep reading to find out how the stories intertwined and played out. Overall I’m glad I persevered, it did really make me think, and was quite ‘different’ in a good way. I’m not sure you could say you ‘enjoyed’ it given the storylines.

The very final chapter is written from a third perspective – which was a clever touch – and particularly how a tooth falling out is dealt with compared to earlier in the story. A real ‘book club discussion point’ I would suggest.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC – even if it would appear I wasn’t very advanced in reading it!

From the harrowing open line of this booked I was hooked.
It’s not an easy read due to the issues it covers - child abuse and neglect but is so beautifully written you have to keep turning the pages.
This is a great read and totally recommend it.

The First Day of Spring by Nancy Tucker begins with the line ‘I killed a little boy today.’ This book was a difficult but excellent read, I was gripped, horrified, saddened and hopeful. Chrissie is eight years old when she murders another child and as the book develops we look at what led her to carry out such a horrific act. Chrissie’s homelife is shocking, an absent father and a mother who may as well not be there. She is never fed and sleeps on a urine soaked mattress every night. Her behavior is fuelled by her hunger, she will push her way into ‘friends’ houses just in the hope of getting something to eat. We jump to the future where Chrissie has a new identity after serving time in a young offender’s institute. She has a daughter Molly who she is terrified of losing. But she starts to receive phone calls from someone who clearly knows who she really is. Is her new life about to come crashing down around her and will she lose the one good thing she has ever done?
The First Day of Spring explores the subject of nature versus nurture and looks at what drives children to commit such crimes as murder. Chrissie is a complex character, she has not experienced care or love when she should have so how does she know how to give those things to others? This was very uncomfortable to read in places but I felt that it was very brave to tackle such a taboo subject matter and it was done with care and attention that shone through.

NANCY TUCKER –THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING *****

I read this novel in advance of publication through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This is a story that begins: I killed a little boy today. Held my hands around his throat, felt his blood pump hard against my thumbs.

Shockingly, it is written by an eight-year-old girl. Who wants to kill again.

This is a brilliantly written story, never sensationalised, of the little boy’s death and how it affects the community for decades to come. One half is written by Cassie, this disturbed young girl, believing because Jesus came back to life after death that other people do too; a girl who kicks and belittles her friends and considers herself unlovable. The other half is told from the POV of Julia, with a child of her own, who is Cassie grown up, still wracked with problems, her name changed after incarceration.

With Cassie you learn things through the eyes of the child, her thoughts and way of seeing the world, with a mother who is incapable of caring for her or feeding her and tries to give her away, and a drunken, mostly absent father.

With Julia you feel the fears she has for her own daughter, Molly, likely to be taken away because as a mother she is so unprepared, and dealing with an old school friend she was horrid towards but who turns out wants to help her.

This is a deeply moving and tragic story, convincingly told. Not for everyone, because of the subject matter, but an important one. Heart-renderingly a story that, reading recent news, continues behind closed doors to this day despite the efforts of social workers.

Wow this is an incredible and powerful story. I just couldn't get over how fantastic the writing style of this book was. It totally engrossed me and time just flew away. It was such a dark and highly emotional book it just haunted me. The emotions just consumed the whole of me and by the end I was in tears. It was a story like nothing I had ever read before.  I found it very difficult to get over this book it is such a unique story. This book won't be leaving me for a very long time. This book is a dual timeline following an 8 year old child who's mother doesn't look after her at all and then it follows her as she is older with her own child. It unbelievable how haunting this book is the atmosphere and tension within will blow your mind. The only reason this book didn't get full stars was because I have never been haunted so much by a book and I struggled to cope with the feeling, this has never happened to me before. I just couldn't get over how powerful and well wrote it really was which is a credit to the author and publishers.  They have clearly created the next big seller. I am so that everyone will read this book . Thank you so much for creating this epic story wow.
The above review has already been placed on goodreads, waterstones, Google books, Barnes&noble, kobo, amazon UK and my blog https://ladyreading365.wixsite.com/website/post/the-first-day-of-spring-by-nancy-tucker-penguin-4-stars
Using either of the following names ladyreading365, lady Reading365 or ladyc reading

What a fabulous read! Absolutely loved it. It was a breath of fresh air, I found it different to other crime/thrillers. Very enjoyable.
It made me laugh in places and also made mr feel for the lead character. So well written. 100% recommend this book

What a great book, I really enjoyed reading The First Day of Spring, going backwards and forwards in time following Chrissies young tormented life to Julia’s life with Molly.

Wow, this was a strong thought provoking read, we follow Chrissie as a child, neglected and has clear behavioral issues, from the start Chrissie commits a terrible act and it shapes her adulthood. The other time line is Julia (grown up Chrissie) who struggles with life. mother hood and her own childhood trauma. I don't think this book will appeal to everyone because of the strong content, I had so many different emotions through out and for me that shows a great book.

Thanks netgalley for allowing me to read this horrific sad story. At the end of this book I was crying, which is something no book has ever done to me.
Chrissie was born into a family that had no idea how to look after a little girl, her mother hardly fed her and ignored her most of the time, her father liked his drink at the pub rather than seeing his daughter was fed and looked after.
Chrissie grew up with hate in her heart because no one loved her, and she thought if she was not loved why should other children be loved and looked after by her family.
She was forever screaming and being naughty as that made people give her attention, until she did something that can never be forgiven.
If you get upset reading a sad book don’t read this one, but it was very well written and gave you an insight into other peoples lives.

I believe that this is one of the most harrowing books I have read as it explores the impact of childhood on adult life. Each happening, big or small, in her early life has a huge impact on the child growing up.The main character is a badly behaved child and her first and one of her worst acts happens on page one, so the reader is aware of this from the start.
The rest of the book tells her various stories explaining her problems.
I found her hard to like but easier to understand as the story progresses, until friendship helps her into adulthood.
Recommended

An interesting premise, looking at the life of a childhood killer from her perspective both then and now, as a mother struggling post-incarceration to try and bring up her daughter well. Descriptions of the poverty and hunger she grew up with were full and empathic. Mother and daughter relationships are not always beautiful, best-friend situations. Kept me turning the page.

I am sorry but I found this book too distressing to continue reading. I was a Childrens' nurse and reading about a child doing this was too horrific for me to tolerate

A very strong and powerful book which certainly grabbed my attention even if I hesitate to say I enjoyed it given it's disturbing subject matter. I felt completely steamrollered once I'd finished this harrowing tale but also horrified whilst it was incredibly thought provoking. Told in two timeframes by the same person, by Chrissie as an incredibly deprived despairing child and Julia as an adult trying her best but haunted by the past. This book would certainly not be for everyone which is why I have given it 4 not 5 stars, it'll certainly stay with me and I won't forget it.

An excellent read. Nancy Tucker created a truly interesting crime story where there are no smart sleuths or detectives. There is a heart-breaking story from the past though, one woman's quest for love and forgiveness and 2 unique voices telling 2 sides of the same story, separated by time rather than anything else.

I am not even sure this book can be called a crime story. Surely, there is violence, there is death, there is some investigation and somebody goes to prison for the unthinkable crimes committed. But. There is also a story of friendship, a story of righting wrongs, a story of motherly love and how the absence of it can shape our lives infinitely.

It is such a beautiful story. Its unique voices ring in my head even after finishing, which I actually did in 1 day or so. Tucker's prose is powerful and efficient. Unputdownable.

It's not often I read a book like this, and never before have I read one on the subject matter.
Told alternately by Chrissie, who is an eight year old child, and Julia who is an adult with a young child, we learn of the had life Crissie leads, which results in a terrible crime. Very thought provoking.

I wasn't sure how I felt about this book initially, the first line is obviously intriguing but I wasn't sure if I could cope with the subject matter. So glad I persevered, my heart broke for Chrissie/Julia so many times. An excellent debut.

As a child Chrissie was responsible for the death of a toddler and was taken into some sort of institution until she was eighteen. The punishment was not deemed fit for the crime and she has had to change identity several times. This book flips between her as a child and now as an adult and parent herself. I was completely hooked and loved it, read it in one sitting!

A heartbreaking story. Chrissie is a very neglected child which makes her behave very strange as she doesn't know what it means to be happy and loved.It is a very well written book and I really felt her pain as she tries to live a life that is far from normal. It was a gripping read but did find it a bit disturbing at times and also very emotional but was a really poignant and interesting read

I'm afraid that this book is in the "not for me" category. I found it upsetting and struggled to finish it. That said, the writing is excellent, and the plot is good.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

As I started reading, I thought this is not for me- too dark. As I carried on reading and got involved with the nature versus nurture theme I realised this is so much more than a crime novel. Beautifully written with touches of humour (Christie is a feisty little girl). I really felt for her, always hungry, dirty and unloved. We also get to know her as an adult and how her early life has affected her. A hard book to ‘enjoy’ but a worthwhile and chilling read.
Thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for an arc in return for an honest review.