Forgiveness can be both cathartic and corrosive, depending on how one is affected by another's actions, as illustrated in Abigail Dean's gripping debut, Girl A. For Alexandra "Lex" Gracie, forgiveness is a commodity she cannot afford when it comes to the abuse she and her siblings endured from her parents in their home in Hollowfield, England.
Lex was 15 years old when she escaped the "house of horrors" and alerted the authorities, who freed the other children. Dubbed "Girl A" by the authorities, Lex and her siblings were each eventually adopted by different parents in various regions. Now in her 30s and a successful lawyer in New York City, Lex returns to England after her mother, Deborah, dies of cancer in prison. Deborah made Lex the executor of her estate, which includes a bit of money, thanks to good investments by their father, who committed suicide the day Lex escaped. But the estate's main asset is the Hollowfield house, which Lex wants to turn into a community center. To do that, each sibling must agree to the plan.
Anger propels Lex, who has never forgiven her parents, nor does she intend to. Lex's visits to her siblings, some of whom she hasn't seen for decades, forces each to come to terms with their past. Each Gracie child has reinvented themselves, yet, in many ways, none can move beyond their horrible childhood. Dean also shows how Lex's father spiraled from an outsider with a few odd ideas to a violent abuser intent on establishing his own cult. Complicated relationships mired in the past accentuate the solid psychological thriller Girl A. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer