Author: Katie Bishop
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Date Published: June 6, 2023
There are some things I think it’s important to know going into this book. Despite the Booklist review that says “plot-driven tension will appeal to fans of psychological suspense” it was definitely not in that category for me, but wholly in the category of women’s fiction.
This is a slow moving but beautifully written coming of age story about a 17-year-old girl who travels to Greece and encounters an older man who she falls in love with. It’s not until she’s older that she comes to realize the depths of the manipulation that occurred, not just to her, but to whole groups of girls who were recruited for more than work in the bar he managed. Yet she still clings to the fantasy of that time, when there were endless parties, little responsibility, and the hint of a future that might be.
The story only hints at the atrocities carried out on the island, and during one fateful trip to England. I wanted the author to just come out and say what we already knew. There are many TW for this book: Grooming, rape, abortion, suicide, drugs. It’s not until the last 1/4 of the book that the pace really picks up. Despite that I gave the book 4 stars because of the beautiful language of the book, and the way it was able to evoke a time that many young women encountered during my generation, and maybe even today.
Background photo courtesy of Artiom Vallat on Unsplash.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advance reader’s copy.
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