HENDRICK, Kate The Accident Text Pub, 2013 260pp A$19.99 NZ$26.00 pbk ISBN 9781921922855 SCIS 1610644
For her debut novel, Kate Hendrick has chose quite a complex narrative structure, which, although it may be challenging for some readers, also demonstrates her respect for readers who wish to work through the complexities to make meaning for themselves. It is based on one incident, a car accident on a rainy night in Sydney, which loosely connects three very different teenagers in quite disparate domestic situations. The narrative perspective changes constantly across the three of them, and the timeline moves similarly across the time frames of before, after and later. The changes triggered by the accident have dramatic consequences for each of the main characters, Sarah, Will and Eliat, and provide an intriguing insight into the constant pressures that young people have to learn to deal with. Suitable for 13-18 years. SC