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Book Reviews

While getting our hands on physical new releases in lockdown was a bit of a challenge, avid readers Norma Geddes and Belinda O’Keefe managed to find a couple worthy of sharing. Happy reading.

HarperCollins

This is a disturbing and unsettling novel about the relationship between 15-year-old schoolgirl Vanessa and her charismatic English teacher 42-year-old Jacob Strane.

We first meet Vanessa at 32. She’s in a rut and can’t seem to move forward, still consumed by memories of her first great love, Strane. She is unwilling to accept that she was a victim in the relationship.

Alternating between schoolgirl Vanessa and present day, we can see how the manipulative Strane homes in on the young shy friendless teen and draws her into a sexual relationship. Over the years they stay in touch, their sexual relationship ending when she’s in her twenties – but she can’t let him go.

When a woman accuses Strane of raping her when she was a teenager, Vanessa is forced to face her demons.

Not always an easy read but very powerful.