In the Dark, in the Woods

LoveReading4Kids Says

May 2016 Debut of the Month Haunting coming-of-age page-turner about 16 year-old Castley’s battle to break free from her father’s repressive religious mania.

The five Cresswell siblings and their broken, doll-like mum live in the foreboding shadow of their abusive dad, who uses God as a weapon of control and has brought them up to believe that they’re “the only pure people left on earth”. The family live deep in the woods, physically and ideologically isolated from the outside world, which, their father preaches, is not the real world. According to him, the sooner they’re all in heaven, the better.

Although their father considers school to be for the wicked, he’s obliged to send his children, and it’s there that Castley’s life begins to change. At school, her mind, body and soul are awakened to real-life revelations, like “the freedom of living inside a kiss”. She realises that “sometimes you need other people to taste the stars”, and longs to live as a normal teenager who hangs out with friends and wears cutoff jeans. Then, as Castley’s world opens up, so her father’s fervor to reach heaven escalates, and she must summon the strength to be true to herself and fight back. ~ Joanne Owen

LoveReading4Kids

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