"Prepare for your heart to ache for 16 year-old Smidge, who is on the run from pain and fear as she attempts to find herself in this beautifully compassionate yet challenging novel.
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Heart-wrenchingly emotional and confrontational yet beautifully empathetic and touching, this novel balances pain and hope with wonderful eloquence. 16 year old Smidge is living her life on the run in the United States, moving from job to job, place to place, with performance artist Violet. As she attempts to conquer fear and understand the meaning of family, she has to come to terms with herself. Author Jennifer Love has previously written short stories and poetry. She is able to evoke and shape thoughts and feelings in just a few meaningful words. Her ability to break through and go beyond the fragile surface into the deep depths of pain is extraordinary. I felt as though I was a part of Smidge, and I positively ached for her. The exploration of fear is extremely powerful, I found myself taking new roads as I questioned my own reasoning. This is such a provocative yet poignant novel it just had to be chosen as a LoveReading Star Book and Liz Pick of the Month. Please Fear Me deserves to fly as it explores the meaning of family, freedom, and self. Highly recommended.
'We were wild animals after all. And some of the ones with the biggest teeth.'
Sixteen-year-old Smidge is on the run, burdened with a shameful secret. Together with her fellow runaway, a performance artist called Violet, she travels through the underbelly of America, desperately searching for a way to rise above her past. On meeting a travelling circus filled with misfits and drifters, they think they might have found a home. But as Violet is drawn under the influence of its sinister ringleader, Smidge learns that belonging comes with a price.
Forced to choose between her past and present, Smidge must confront the shame that has shaped her, and return to face her flawed mother, before it is too late.
Brazen, tender and painfully raw, Please Fear Me is a biting exploration of complex family ties, addiction and survival.
Jennifer Love is a writer from the Bay Area who currently calls Oakland, California home. Her debut short story collection, Punch a Hole in the Sky to Let In the Light, was published by 5ever Books in 2023, and her short fiction and poetry have appeared in X-RAY, Minola Review, Storm Cellar, Autre and elsewhere. Please Fear Me is Jennifer’s debut novel.
