Alarm Girl

(Paperback)

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Description

When 11-year-old Indigo and her older brother Robin arrive in South Africa to stay with their father, they find a luxury lifestyle that is a world away from their modest existence back in England. But Indigo is uneasy in the foreign landscape and confused by the family's silence surrounding her mother's recent death. Unable to find solace in either new or old faces, she begins to harbour violent suspicions in place of the truth. Steeped in the dry heat of a South African summer, this keen and touching debut seamlessly interweaves the voices of Indigo and her mother, and beautifully captures the human desire to belong: in a family, in a country, in your own skin.

Reviews

'Rarely has a child narrator been written so convincingly, and with so much obvious (and deserved) affection from its author - Though this is a novel slender in form, it's a hugely sating read. It speaks of family (truthfully), of loss (sensitively), of growing up (tenderly, beautifully). Compelling, beautiful and poetic, this is a book to get utterly lost in.' - Bookgroup Info 'A book of heat, loss, wit and aching tenderness.' Tim Crouch 'A moving and recognisable exploration of a family struggling to manage and openly process the death of a mother... stranded in a foreign land both literally and metaphorically Indy is left to construct her own version of the truth. Beautifully paced... compelling but never sentimental.' Karen Rose, Sweet Talk Productions 'Sensitively written, this is a heart rending tale of a young girl trying to make sense of her life while accepting loss and change.' We Love This Book 'In tone and content I could compare it to Nathan Filer's The Shock of the Fall... Alarm Girl is a subtle and yet powerful novel.' - --Writer's Hub: Ten Books To Read 'Beautifully written, the heat and landscapes of South Africa leap off the page as Indy's story unfolds.' - Bella Magazine 'An assured exposition of grief, belonging and the nature of self. Convincing characterisation and strong evocations of South Africa and suburban Britain conspire to turn a simple tale into a book which lingers in the mind.' - Sussex Life

Author Bio

Hannah Vincent is a novelist and playwright. She studied Drama and English at the University of East Anglia and completed the MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University. She has a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Sussex. Hannah teaches Creative Writing on the Open Universitys MA and life writing on the Autobiography and Life writing programme at New Writing South. She lives in Brighton. She is the author of two novels, Alarm Girl and The Weaning (Salt). Her debut short story collection, She-Clown, and other stories is available now.