First published 2001
Angela Devine has sacrificed everything for her younger brother James. After their alcoholic mother died young, thirty-six-year-old Angela became James's guardian, raising him through his teenage years. Now nineteen, James grows distant from his devoted sister. Then the police arrest him for rape. Angela believes James is innocent and stands by him through the trial. The evidence proves murky, and James receives a suspended four-year sentence. The victim's family feels cheated of justice. Media attention explodes around the case. Angela and James face harassment and attacks whenever they venture outside. Angela watches helplessly as James struggles with his ordeal. For the first time in her life, she confronts her own isolation. She has always lived for others, putting James's needs before her own. Now she must learn to build a life for herself.
Genres: literary-fiction, mystery, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, legal-drama, unreliable-narrator
Paperback · Pan
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness, rape