The Other Side

Her seemingly indomitable mother's nervous breakdown shocks Alison to the core, but worse is yet to come when she is forced to stay with her father, his new wife and step-daughter. The whole sequence of traumas, that really began with Gran's death, makes Chrissie, Alison six-year-old brother, escape by reverting to babyhood, but for Alison release comes through vivid fantasies that prove nearly fatal. There's a lot of anger and pain in this book. Ms Wilson has managed to convey very convincingly just how the breakdown of relationships leaves only victims in its wake, no winners. A moving novel for mid-late secondary readers.