Steal My Sunshine (Emily Gale, Random House)

Australian-based, British-born YA author Emily Gale’s latest novel, Steal My Sunshine, explores long-buried secrets and loyalties in the shadow of a dark episode in Australia’s recent history: the forced adoption of children born to unmarried mothers that took place up until the last century. Steal My Sunshine tackles some weighty topics in a coming-of-age context that encompasses the frustrations of adolescence. When Hannah’s dad walks out, she seeks solace in the company of her wild-child best friend Chloe, and her eccentric grandmother Essie. But things become even more complicated when Hannah’s crush on Chloe’s older brother finally looks as though it’s being reciprocated, and Essie reveals a shocking family secret. Gradually, Hannah begins to reassess her sense of self-belief and understand the fractures in her difficult relationships with her parents and brother. Despite an engaging plot, Gale’s characters never fully come to life, and there’s often something a little stilted in their exchanges that makes it hard to become entirely absorbed or invested in their situations. Nonetheless, this character-driven tale of self-belief and identity is as much a history lesson as family drama, and, like Mary McCarthy’s recent bestseller The Convent, is likely to have broad commercial appeal.

Carody Culver is a freelance writer and editor and part-time bookseller at Brisbane’s Black Cat Books

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Category: Reviews