Sarah Reviews: Stay with Me by Maureen McCarthy
It’s a while since a book has pulled me into its pages with the kind of urgency I felt as soon as I began reading Stay With Me. The cover and blurb give a strong enough impression of what the book is about, but I don’t think I expected to be taken on such a frightening – and yet thrilling – journey with the title character Tess.
When we meet 21 year-old Tess, she is embarking on a carefully-timed but incredibly risky escape from her abusive partner. In the dark early hours of morning Tess bundles her sleeping three-year-old daughter into a stroller and flees the remote farm where she’s been living captive, cut-off from family and friends. From this moment on Tess will be relying on her wits and the kindness of a stranger in order to survive.
Author Maureen McCarthy is a much-loved Aussie YA writer. Her books, including The Convent, Somebody’s Crying, Rose By Any Other Name, Flash Jack and Queen Kat, Carmel & St Jude Get A Life have been endearing her to readers since the early 90s. She has a reputation for creating “gutsy and believeable characters caught at the cusp of adulthood” and although Stay With Me is the first of McCarthy’s books that I have read, her reputation appears well-earned.
Tess is raw and real. And her plight is, sadly, all too believable. Though it often goes un-reported domestic violence is an issue that affects large numbers of Australian women. Recent statistics suggest that every week, on average, one Australian woman is killed by a current or former partner.
McCarthy has handled this subject matter with sensitivity and skill. It isn’t hard to champion Tess’ courage to leave, but as the book progresses the reader also gets to understand just how the abusive relationship managed to build its walls high around her.
The bond that Tess and her daughter Nellie forge with Harry, the young man who offers to drive them to safety, is both poignant and uplifting. It was perhaps my favourite part of the book.
Meantime, the journey Tess makes to re-connect with her estranged family members – where old hurts are refreshed – adds another compelling dimension to the story.
This is a well-paced book with a powerful story that both upper YA and New Adult readers are likely to devour.
Stay With Me – Maureen McCarthy
Allen & Unwin (2015)
IBSN 978 1 74331 688 7
