A beautiful novel that captures the aching of a teenager ready to heal.
It's dawn, on an empty road in the countryside. Empty, except for the girl in the long, red evening gown, standing next to a bicycle, and looking back at the home she's about to leave. Mannie's ready to start a new life and forget the terrible things that have happened here, but there are questions that need to be answered before she can let go. Questions about her elegant but unstable mother, her brother who's always overshadowed her, and his friend Harry Jacob, who just might be Mannie's boyfriend . . . "Although Mannie's defining attributes-acute self-consciousness and claustrophobic intensity-are hallmarks of many YA heroines, Murray's powerful lyrical voice and close observation breathe new life into them. The story's forward momentum is occasionally diverted by an outpouring of images and insights, but eventually Mannie and the readers get back on the road, and any detours just add to the pleasure. First published in Australia in 2003, the novel offers an especially vivid sense of place-the harsh but open rural landscape and densely populated yet lonely, urban Melbourne." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Murray's style is crystalline and meditative . . . It's crafted in polished and deftly spun prose. . . . Readers who appreciate style and mood even more than plot will be glad to find her." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Murray crafts beautiful and evocative prose to mark each turn in Mannie's inward and outward journeys, all while maintaining tension in revealing who, within the family, has departed and how. . . . Readers of John Marsden, Melina Marchetta, and Judith Clarke will find a welcome addition to the pantheon of Australian young-adult authors." -- Booklist Martine Murray is the author of THE SLIGHTLY TRUE STORY OF CEDAR B. HARTLEY, which received three starred reviews and was named to Booklist's roundup of Top Ten First Novels for Youth. She lives in Victoria, Australia. "Although Mannie's defining attributes-acute self-consciousness and claustrophobic intensity-are hallmarks of many YA heroines, Murray's powerful lyrical voice and close observation breathe new life into them. The story's forward momentum is occasionally diverted by an outpouring of images and insights, but eventually Mannie and the readers get back on the road, and any detours just add to the pleasure. First published in Australia in 2003, the novel offers an especially vivid sense of place-the harsh but open rural landscape and densely populated yet lonely, urban Melbourne." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Murray's style is crystalline and meditative . . . It's crafted in polished and deftly spun prose. . . . Readers who appreciate style and mood even more than plot will be glad to find her." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Murray crafts beautiful and evocative prose to mark each turn in Mannie's inward and outward journeys, all while maintaining tension in revealing who, within the family, has departed and how. . . . Readers of John Marsden, Melina Marchetta, and Judith Clarke will find a welcome addition to the pantheon of Australian young-adult authors." -- Booklist
