Review: Days of Innocence and Wonder by Lucy Treloar

Twenty-three year old Till has lived in the darkest shadow of an event that she was powerless to stop--the abduction of her best friend when the two were just five years old. Understandably, the event and the attention she gained from being the child who saw it happen have left a scar. Now an adult, she finds herself on the run from her past. She arrives in an outback town, a long way from home, only to discover that danger lurks here too. This time around she needs to make a decision--to run or to face the danger head on.

When I was offered a copy of Days of Innocence and Wonder to review, I was immediately intrigued. After all, Lucy Treloar is an accomplished Australian writer of literary fiction, with two wonderful, award winning literary novels under her belt, Salt Creek and Wolfe Island. The plot of Days of Innocence and Wonder certainly sounded compelling. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this one as much as I hoped. I knew the plot was going to be dark and that parts would be confronting--I just did not realise how confronting. Of course, the subject matter--the dangers that girls and women face is extremely important and worthy of discussion--and it is something that is going to linger in my mind for a long time. Perhaps the importance of stories like this one is not so much whether one enjoyed it, but how it made them feel and how it contributes to a wider and more important discussion. Why do I find it so confrontational? Is it the violence? Or is it the fact that Till has spent her life blaming herself for an event that was in no way her fault?

As always, Treloar's prose is beautiful and there is a haunting quality to the narrative.

A deep and though provoking read.

Thank you to Pan Macmillan Australia for my ARC of Days of Innocence and Wonder.

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