Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein (Walker Books) $23

As debuts go, this one is stunning. It also caught me by surprise. As a father to daughters, I’m wary of books that have girls as victims. And I can get frustrated with tales that switch from present to past and that rely heavily on psychology and the counsellor’s couch.

Sarah Epstein handles all of this with a deft touch, slowly revealing the mystery behind the traumatic past of the central character, Tash Carmody – and the imaginary figure that looms over her life, credibility and mental fragility, and who holds the secret to what really happened to Mallory Fisher.

It is a clever story, superbly told and with the violence largely hinted at, rather than dominant.

Central to the story is Tash witnessing the abduction of Mallory many years earlier and the effect it has had on both of them. It rendered Mallory mute and Tash’s explanation for what happened saw her labelled crazy.

She is emotionally abandoned by her parents, not believed by her counsellor and ridiculed at school, yet has the strength to stick to her story – though she has blocked out key parts of it as a survival method.

Epstein plays a subtle hand as she slowly reveals what really happened, while all the time raising serious doubts about Tash’s credibility.

Her collision course with the truth is sparked by the Fisher family’s return to her hometown and her growing friendship with Morgan, Mallory’s brother.

She has support from a Kiwi mate Sadie, who is a thoroughly down-to-earth sort with a

It’s a cracking yarn and I finished Small Places wanting more.

reasonable explanation for most things. But even she begins to have her doubts as Tash moves closer to the truth.

Tash’s aunty also comes into the story and – without giving too much away – it is the crossroads between her life and Tash’s that are the key to unlocking her past.

We are left to the last few pages to learn the truth and, though in hindsight I perhaps should have seen the big reveal coming much sooner, I didn’t. And that’s good.

For a debut novel, Epstein has shown class with a psychological thriller that lives up to the cliche of being hard to put down. I read it in three sessions with the pace, clear writing, interesting characters and intriguing plot making it an easy but far from light read.

The tension is wound up as the unexplained aspects of Tash’s life are highlighted, but the psychological aspects aren’t overplayed so the story maintains its pace and tone.

It’s a cracking yarn and I finished Small Places wanting more. I will eagerly keep an eye out for Epstein’s follow-up. – Jim Kayes