A quietly strong and beautiful read that flows eloquently and expressively from the page. Eleven-year-old Indy and her older brother travel to South Africa to stay with their father. Indy speaks of her time away, the author skilfully voices Indy’s honest thoughts and feelings and you can quite literally hear her as you read. Separately we also hear the story of Karen, Indy’s Mum; her tale weaves backwards and forwards through time yet somehow synchronises with Indy’s. As you read further, the unveiling of innermost and very private thoughts enable a window to be opened into a challenging world. Thought-provoking and compelling, this is an intriguing novel.
When 11-year-old Indigo and her older brother Robin arrive in South Africa to stay with their father, they find a luxury lifestyle that is a world away from their modest existence back in England. But Indigo is uneasy in the foreign landscape and confused by the family's silence surrounding her mother's recent death. Unable to find solace in either new or old faces, she begins to harbour violent suspicions in place of the truth. Steeped in the dry heat of a South African summer, this keen and touching debut seamlessly interweaves the voices of Indigo and her mother, and beautifully captures the human desire to belong: in a family, in a country, in your own skin.
