It didn’t take long for me to dive into this book. Truth be told after reading the synopsis I was already hooked.
‘Girl A,’ she said. ‘The girl who escaped. If anyone was going to make it, it was going to be you.’
“Lex Gracie doesn’t want to think about her family. She doesn’t want to think about growing up in her parents’ House of Horrors. And she doesn’t want to think about her identity as Girl A: the girl who escaped. When her mother dies in prison and leaves Lex and her siblings the family home, she can’t run from her past any longer. Together with her sister, Evie, Lex intends to turn the House of Horrors into a force for good. But first she must come to terms with her six siblings – and with the childhood they shared.”
A family of seven children, all living in fear of making their father angry, terrified at the possibility of what this may bring onto each other. The situation escalating with the passing of the years as his distrust and suspicion deepens. Until finally a child escapes, manages to get help, and to bring rescue to her siblings in the process. They call her Girl A, she’s a survivor.
The children are now grown, but the insecurities and issues caused through their upbringing continue to cast a shadow over their lives. Each child handles the challenge differently, and some are more successful than others in overcoming the trauma.
As Girl A moves to connect with her siblings again, we meet each one and the curtain of what exactly happened all those years ago is gradually pulled back.
The storytelling by Abigail Dean in Girl A is as breathtaking as it is horrifying. An addictive read that won’t let you go until the last chapter has been read. It will leave you slightly breathless and I have no doubt that you’ll want to hug your own brother or sister tighter after you’ve turned the last page. A cracker of a book to start the year, Girl A is a must read to anyone who delights in the thriller or psychological drama genre.
Girl A is available from bookstores and online retailers for a recommended retail price of R330. I would assign a trigger warning to this book for abuse or neglect.
Thanks to Jonathan Ball Publishers for sharing this book with me.
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