I received The Nowhere Child in exchange for an honest review.
This Australian novel has had a lot of hype around it, having won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award which was previously won by The Dry and The Rosie Project both of which I loved. I’m happy to say I loved this one too! It definitely lived up to the hype; a clever and emotional psychological thriller which takes the reader on a journey from Melbourne to small-town USA and back again in Kim Leamy’s journey to find answers.
What if you found out everything you’d believed about your childhood was a lie? That your parents may not actually be your parents, and you were abducted from another country as a toddler. This is what happens to Kim in this compelling debut.
To find answers, she has to leave her hometown of Melbourne and travel to Manson, a small town in Kentucky. We go on a journey with her as she meets her potential real family – the Wents, and dysfunctional is an understatement for this lot. There’s Stuart, the accountant brother, Emma, who now lives in a trailer park and calls the media at the first opportunity and her mother – a dedicated member of the Church Of The Light Within, a bizarre cult which handles snakes in their ceremonies.
The story is told along two timelines; one following the Wents in Kentucky at the point when Sammy disappeared, and one in the present when Kim is searching for answers. Through both storylines, the truth is gradually revealed with plenty of twists and turns along the way. It’s the perfect blend of small-town mentalities, religious fanatics and explosive secrets which kept me riveted. For a debut, it’s hugely impressive and deserves all the praise it’s already receiving.
thebookbrief 
I enjoyed this one too.