Australian author Peggy Frew won the 2010 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for her debut novel, House of Sticks, a deeply affecting story about a young woman becoming a mother. With her second novel, Hope Farm, Frew writes from the perspective of a child. This beautifully written story is set in 1985, the year that 13-year-old Silver experiences a series of events that destroy her relationship with her mother.
Told from Silver's adult point-of-view, the story is set on Hope Farm, a hippie commune where Silver and her mother, Ishtar, begin their new life with Miller, a charming ne'er-do-well with whom Ishtar has fallen in love. Up until this point, Silver and her mother have led an itinerant life, moving from one group home to another. Ishtar's short diary entries appear every few chapters to explain why this is: she became pregnant with Silver at only 17 and was abandoned by her parents after she refused to give up the baby.
At Hope Farm, Silver develops a close friendship with a bullied classmate. She relies on their relationship to escape the drugs, sex parties and general neglect of her home life. But no matter how hard she tries to push that life--and her mother--to the periphery of her day-to-day existence, she can't escape its emotional toll. This devastating coming-of-age tale arrives at a harrowing and deadly conclusion, but the novel's not wholly tragic; Silver's character is cheer-worthy, and her voice lingers long after the final page. --Amy Brady, freelance writer and editor