Book jacket blurb:
“Girl A” she said. “The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.”
I am Lex Gracie but they call me Girl A.
I grew up with my family on the moors.
I escaped when I was 15 years old.
Now something is pulling me back…
Opinion:
Girl A, the debut novel by Abigail Dean, tells the story of the Gracie children who are horribly abused by their parents and how they navigate life after escape. The story shifts between present day and flashbacks to the ‘house of horrors’, told from the view of Lex, “Girl A”.
I found this a compelling read, despite the topic. Dean avoided writing about the details of the abuse, hinting at what could have happened and leaving the rest to the reader’s imagination. This meant I could engage with the story, without having to wade through details I did not want to see. She employed this technique often throughout the book, with two major plot points towards the end, ones that I did not see coming, left wide-open to interpretation. This provided my Book Club (otherwise known as the Prosecco & Rant Club) plenty of scope for discussion and left us split in how we thought the tale ended.
Girl A is positioned as a mystery thriller, but it’s was more of a psychological drama. Dean herself explains how she wanted the story to be more about hope and, for me, that comes through in the characters. I desperately wanted them to succeed in life despite being failed by their parents, and society. I recommend this fast-paced, gripping novel, but be prepared to be angry, to cry and to want to give your loved ones that extra cuddle.
- Mystery
- Thriller
- Psychological
- Fiction
- Adult
