Suzy, Suzy - William Wall

A startling and gripping novel, Suzy Suzy follows a teenage girl trying to understand the chaos of her family life. Narrated by a troubled young woman, the novel weaves a tale of secrets, lies and betrayal in the pressure cooker of her formative years.

Suzy lives in a dysfunctional household. She can't stand her mother; her father is keeping secrets; and her brother only seems to egg on their parents' erratic and unpredictable behaviour. Alongside her friends, Suzy finds herself drawn into the downward spiral of her parents' relationship, and as a result is drawn into the centre of a mystery surrounding a murder.

Forced to make impossible choices, Suzy must navigate the increasingly distrubing antics of her family and the oddities of the mystery she finds hself involved in, while also trying to survive the horrors of secondary school.

William Wall is an underrated Irish master with a powerful, distinctive writing style, and an uncanny ability to create astonishingly complex and well-realised female protagonists.