A missing backpacker. A million-dollar reward. Ordinary people cracking under pressure.
Busy parents Mia and Ryan were devastated when their former nanny, Irish backpacker Tara, tragically disappeared. But that was two years ago. Now they want to move on and focus on their son… so why are the police questioning them again?
When single mum Beth wakes up to a house burglary, she immediately suspects her abusive ex-husband. But when bad things continue to happen to Beth, her fear is overtaken by desperation and anger.
A dark secret binds these families together. How far will they go to protect their own?
The Other Side Of Her is a great title for a terrific read. Previously shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction, this is B.M. Carroll’s eleventh novel. Her experience as a writer of thrillers has helped create a novel that’s a gripping, mesmerising story told with deft precision and an acute ear for tone.
Carroll kicks off her tale with the lament ‘I love your bones.’ At its heart, that’s what this novel is about – a parents’ love for their child, motivating all manner of activity and choices, for better and worse.
The Other Side of Her is set around the Newcastle region of New South Wales, the author’s home town. Her understanding of its landscape, monuments and inhabitants is insightful and crafted into an utterly believable backdrop for this twisty tale to take place.
It’s a story that could all too easily occur, and Carroll taps into some of our greatest fears: losing a child, an accident with dire consequences, a spouse who isn’t who you thought they were. But she touches on these fears with ease and dexterity, which makes for a riveting, compelling read.
Though Tara is dead from the novel’s commencement, we flash back in time and are provided with a strong sense of the woman who met her demise while on a working holiday. Tara’s mother knows the reason given for her death cannot be real. Her love for her daughter and need for the truth kicks off the offer of a reward and an investigation that explodes the worlds of our main characters ensues. The novel offers differing points of view, as we travel with Beth, Ryan and Mia on their journeys, becoming witnesses to their reasons, theories and choices. It’s intensely riveting and I was completely there for the ride.
Carroll’s plotting is seamless, her pace is cracking and her tale is captivating. I can’t wait to see what she delivers us next.
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