Try to leave and I'll find you.
Tess is trapped in a desperate situation - her violent partner now threatening not just Tess, but their daughter as well.
A chance meeting offers a way out, and a road trip back to the heart of Tess's past, and the family she's left behind. But can she ever trust again?
An electrifying story from the bestselling author of The Convent.
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This is a haunting Australian YA novel with some very heavy subject matter and chilling scenes. Right from the first page, I was drawn into 21-year-old Tess's story. Cut off from her family, she has no one to turn to when she decides to flee her abusive relationship. Although her life has been at risk for some time, it is when her daughter’s life is threatened that she realises she must get away. She escapes from the isolated farm in the small hours of the morning and my heart stopped in my chest each time she was nearly caught. You can't help but feel as paranoid as Tess does, as worried that maybe this stranger who has agreed to help her out is actually playing some sick game with her, and is connected to her partner.
With a lot of YA novels depicting controlling relationships as romantic, this is a realistic portrayal of just how scary and pervasive domestic violence is. It is a novel of family dysfunction, loss, fear, love but most of all hope. If you enjoyed Melina Marchetta’s books, you should definitely give this one a read. - Elisha (QBD)
Guest, 22/03/2017
