Anna and her mother have fled the rumours circulating her school, gone to the other end of the country. She dares to think she can start a new life here. But nothing is ever forgotten, and the people she left behind are determined to remind her she is never free of them.
Books on this general theme are becoming more popular. The hook in this one is the history project; Anna researches and dreams about a woman who used to live in the town, a woman scorned and ultimately killed for bearing a child out of wedlock - a child of rape, though the town didn't care about that at the time. Anna's situation isn't quite that bad, but due to social media it's far more inescapable and wide spread, with people weighing in all over. Some of the cruelties dealt to Anna made my heart stop.
It's terrifying to think, to know, that this is genuinely happening to young women and girls right now, that boys and men and even other girls feel this entitled and free to be this savage. I hope that those women find a little bit of the power Anna does, maybe feel a little less alone.
This was a tough book to get through, but I'm glad I stuck it out. It's definitely worth it.
UK Cover US Cover
A rumour is like a fire. You might think you’ve extinguished it but one creeping, red tendril, one single wisp of smoke is enough to let it leap back into life again. Especially if someone is watching, waiting to fan the flames ...
New school.
Tick.
New town.
Tick.
New surname.
Tick.
Social media profiles?
Erased.
There’s nothing to trace Anna back to her old life. Nothing to link her to the ‘incident’.
At least that’s what she thinks … until the whispers start up again. As time begins to run out on her secrets, Anna finds herself irresistibly drawn to the tale of Maggie, a local girl accused of witchcraft centuries earlier. A girl whose story has terrifying parallels to Anna’s own…
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