Caroline Overington’s second novel proves her as an author whose following is destined to grow in leaps and bounds. Jam-packed with family issues, it’s a gripping blockbuster that booksellers can recommend unreservedly—and especially to book clubs. Told mostly in the voice of beleaguered father Med Atley—an uncomplicated country bloke whose wife leaves him to raise three children on his own—it tracks the story of his wayward and simple daughter Donna-Fay, who struggles with mental illness. Her disturbing life decisions lead to a teen pregnancy with a no-hoper sociopathic boyfriend and her ongoing battle with Community Services. The determined efforts of Med and his older daughter Kat to obtain custody of the baby are both heart-warming and compelling. It hardly seems possible that Overington can pack so many themes into one story—abandonment, mental health, education, unemployment, welfare, child custody, parenting, our family court system, immigration and multiculturalism. All of them are handled with sensitive and thought-provoking aplomb, guaranteeing a cracker of a conversation with any fellow reader. With great commercial appeal, Overington has the potential to leave Jodi Picoult’s sales trailing in her dust.
Scott Whitmont is the owner of Lindfield Bookshop and Children’s Bookshop. This review first appeared in the October 2010 issue of Bookseller+Publisher magazine.
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