Follows a shared encounter between an abandoned 7-year-old, a widowed shut-in and a nursing home escapee, who embark on a road trip across Western Australia to find the child's mother.
The issues these characters are dealing with (loss, grief, aging, quality of life) is almost suffocating at times. Yet there's a lightness present in this book, too. Davis uses these characters to remind us that the darkness of our problems can consume us, but it doesn't have to. That grief and happiness aren't mutually exclusive. Millie is the perfect protagonist for this novel; her age, the way she behaves and reacts, the way she sees the world, gives the adults around her (and we readers) an opportunity to explore uncomfortable feelings and questions. This book is crushing. It's funny. It's sweet. It's devastating. It's perceptive and thought-provoking. More of my thoughts on this title can be found on my blog at A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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29 December, 2014:
Finished reading
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29 December, 2014:
Reviewed