December 1974. Abby Campbell and her brother Charlie are driving to their father’s farm on a dark country road when they swerve into the path of another car, forcing it into a tree. The pregnant driver is killed instantly.

In the heat of the moment, Abby and Charlie make a fateful decision. They flee, hoping heavy rain will erase the fact they were there. They both have too much to lose.

But they have no idea who they’ve just killed or how many lives will be affected by her death. Soon the truth is like a riptide they can’t escape, as their terrible secret pulls them down deeper by the day.

Set in country Queensland in the 1970s, Kirsten Alexander’s Riptides is a seductive family drama about relationships, trust, choices, and the consequences of one terrible decision.

The book begins on a deserted highway late at night, when siblings Abby and Charlie accidentally force another car off the road. The pregnant driver dies, and whilst Abby and Charlie should attempt to save the life of the baby, they don’t call for help and instead drive off. They later find out the woman was their father’s new fiancé, and the dead baby was their step-sibling.

“Mark would rail at my stupidity in staying silent and then lying to the police, and for effectively choosing my brother over my husband. He might divorce me. He loves me, no question, but his job means the world to him.”

Structurally, the novel moves between Abby and Charlie’s POV. We spend most of the novel witnessing their guilt, vulnerability and their attempts to lie to the police and move on from what happened.

We also come to understand tensions between family members. The plot jumps back a few times to give us context about Abby and Charlie’s circumstances. Abby is a mother of young children, whose husband is supportive and helpful, but a little absent from the domestic duties.

Charlie has been living in Bali with his best friends Ryan and Sal. Charlie is in love with Sal, and his time in Bali is his way of avoiding any real responsibilities at home. The main reason he didn’t want to call for help at the scene of the accident, is because he didn’t want anything to jeopardise his plans to return home to Bali. He’s a very dependent man. He often lets — or expects — Abby to solve his problems.

“By the time I arrived in Kuta, Ryan and Sal had decided to set up a restaurant that would serve noodles, juice and cheap beer. Not the vibe we’d originally talked about but there was a garden behind the kitchen and the food was right for the location.”

Riptides captures the complex dynamics within a family. Abby and Charlie’s father is a short-tempered man, who appears quite closed off, unwilling to forgive, and still mourning the loss of his wife years earlier. Abby feels she’s missing out on opportunities because she spends so much time doing things for her husband, her children, her father and her brother.

The book is set in a decade where women were expected to be stay-at-home mothers, looking after their children and managing the household for their husband. Abby wants to enrol in university and study law, and whilst her husband is supportive of this plan, her father is sceptical and questions her priorities.

Abby and Charlie constantly bicker and are incredibly different — Abby is reserved and organised, a planner. Charlie is more of a free spirit, never wanting to settle down and always looking for the next thrill. The car accident forces them to confront their differences and align on a plan, and, over time, it forces them to confront each other and overcome their grievances.

“Dad gets up with a grunt. As he stands, Abby steps back. Mum always said Dad’s temper was a war wound. He’s a tough nut. He likes to tell me how easy my life was, as if it’d be good for it to be otherwise.”

Tense, sophisticated and highly addictive, Riptides had me hooked. The writing is tight and polished, cutting to the emotion of the tragedy. The dialogue is realistic and builds suspense. Riptides is set in Queensland during a time of social upheaval, and Kirsten brings Brisbane to the forefront of the story and presents a story that’s fast-paced and compelling. Readers will find themselves enticed and entertained, ripping through the pages.

Recommended for fans of crime, drama, thriller, family dramas and mysteries.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Riptides
Kirsten Alexander
February 2020
Penguin Random House Publishers

Eleven-year-old Allegra shuttles between her grandmothers who live next door to one another but couldn’t be more different. Matilde works all hours and instils discipline, duty and restraint. She insists that Allegra focus on her studies to become a doctor.

Meanwhile free-spirited Joy is full of colour, possibility and emotion, storing all her tears in little glass bottles. She is riding the second wave of the women’s movement in the company of her penny tortoise, Simone de Beauvoir, encouraging Ally to explore broad horizons and live her ‘true essence’.

And then there’s Rick who lives in a flat out the back and finds distraction in gambling and solace in surfing. He’s trying to be a good father to Al Pal, while grieving the woman who links them all but whose absence tears them apart.

Allegra is left to orbit these three worlds wishing they loved her a little less and liked each other a lot more. Until one day the unspoken tragedy that’s created this division explodes within the person they all cherish most.

Allegra in Three Parts by Suzanne Daniel is a debut coming-of-age story recommended for adult readers, exploring identity and adolescence and the rise of feminism and activism in the 1970s.

Allegra’s mother died when she was very young, so Allegra has been raised by her two grandmothers Matilde and Joy, and her father Rick. Allegra lives with Matilde but Joy lives next door and she and Allegra are very close. The two grandmothers, who were once close, no longer speak to each other because of some past disagreement that has been kept hidden from Allegra.

Predominantly character-driven, Allegra in Three Parts is equal parts entertaining as it is enriching. Suzanne has captured the era vividly, evoking nostalgic responses in readers. It was life before social media and smart phones, where many young children didn’t have televisions and their school teachers were nuns.

“I can split myself in two… something I have to do because of Joy and Matilde. They are my grandmothers and I love them both and they totally love me but they can’t stand each other.”

Allegra in Three Parts is an uplifting, moving novel full of heart and hope. It’s also playful and fun. 11-year-old Allegra’s innocence and curiosity is captured with tenderness and heart. She’s a fantastic protagonist, enticing the reader and keeping them interested until the final page.

I felt that the pacing was quite slow for what was a very minimal plot, but Allegra carries the story with her intrigue and her wonder for the world.

Set in Sydney, domestic violence is rife in Allegra’s neighbourhood. Her best friend Patricia has a violent father, and they’re not the only family looking to escape violence. Allegra in Three Parts features a large cast of strong, independent women who want to be in control of their decisions and their futures. As a result, many people in the neighbourhood — Allegra’s family included — come together to help victims of domestic violence.

“There on a hanger is a pale blue dress. It is the exact same colour — Oriental Blue — that I have loved ever since I first saw Kimberley’s complete set of seventy-two Derwent watercolour pencils when she displayed them, one by one, for show-and-tell in Second Class. It has a cream ruffle on each side of the bodice from the neck to the waist and cream piping around the cuffs.”

Capturing the voice of a tween is no easy feat, particularly when writing a book intended for adults. Sometimes, reading books from the voice of a young child can tire the reader (or perhaps annoy them, depending on the personality of the child), but Allegra is a fascinating character that all readers will enjoy meeting. She’s smart and confident, courageous and incredibly loving.

A few times in the novel I felt the girls in the story — particularly Allegra and Patricia — were a little too wise for their age, recognised in fleeting moments of dialogue between the children and the adults. Other than that, I found the characters incredibly authentic to the era, their ages and their experiences in life.

Recommended for readers of literary fiction, women’s fiction and historical fiction.

Thank you to the publisher for mailing me a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Allegra in Three Parts
Suzanne Daniel
June 2019
Pan Macmillan Publishers