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€15.80
The gripping and dark book club debut with a compelling voice at its centre.
*THE GUARDIAN 2021 BEST CRIME AND THRILLER PICK*
‘Gorgeously written’ PANDORA SYKES
‘I loved this book’ CLARE MACKINTOSH
‘A darkly dazzling debut . . . gripping’ LISA JEWELL
‘Sharp-edged and highly discussable’ BOOKLIST
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‘So that was all it took,’ I thought. ‘That was all it took for me to feel like I had all the power in the world. One morning, one moment, one yellow-haired boy. It wasn’t so much after all.’
Chrissie knows how to steal sweets from the shop without getting caught, the best hiding place for hide-and-seek, the perfect wall for handstands.
Now she has a new secret. It gives her a fizzing, sherbet feeling in her belly. She doesn’t get to feel power like this at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer.
Fifteen years later, Julia is trying to mother her five-year-old daughter, Molly. She is always worried – about affording food and school shoes, about what the other mothers think of her. Most of all she worries that the social services are about to take Molly away.
That’s when the phone calls begin, which Julia is too afraid to answer, because it’s clear the caller knows the truth about what happened all those years ago.
And it’s time to face the truth: is forgiveness and redemption ever possible for someone who has killed?
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‘Perceptive and compassionate’ GUARDIAN
‘A stunning debut’ WASHINGTON POST
‘Compulsively readable’ ASHLEY AUDRAIN
‘Compelling . . . stunningly powerful’ GRAZIA
‘An unforgettable narrative voice’ PAULA HAWKINS
‘An extraordinary and heart-rending novel’ OBSERVER
‘This is outstanding . . . so powerful’ TRACY FENTON
‘A gripping, unsettling debut novel’ ABIGAIL DEAN
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Readers love The First Day of Spring . . .
*****’A powerful, distressing, haunting, but ultimately brilliant read’
*****’Such a heartbreaking and powerful psychological drama that will stay with me for a long time’
*****’An incredible book’
*****’A thought provoking, dark and compulsive read… Highly recommend‘
*****’You DO NOT want to miss The First Day of Spring!’
Out of stock
Chrissie is eight and she has a secret: she has just killed a boy. The feeling made her belly fizz like soda pop. Her playmates are tearful and their mothers are terrified, keeping them locked indoors. But Chrissie rules the roost – she’s the best at wall-walking, she knows how to get free candy, and now she has a feeling of power that she never gets at home, where food is scarce and attention scarcer. Twenty years later, adult Chrissie is living in hiding under a changed name. A single mother, all she wants is for her daughter to have the childhood she herself was denied. That’s why the threatening phone calls are so terrifying. People are looking for them, the past is catching up, and Chrissie fears losing the only thing in this world she cares about, her child.
| Weight | 0.267 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 19.8 × 12.9 × 2.4 cm |
| Author | |
| Publisher | |
| Imprint | |
| Cover | Paperback |
| Pages | 385 |
| Language | English |
| Edition | 1st paperback ed |
| Dewey | 823.92 (edition:23) |
| Readership | General – Trade / Code: K |
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