Breaking the Ties
The book begins as Dorinda becomes 18 and everything changes dramatically. The life and the past she's run away from is gradually revealed, rediscovered and come to terms with as Dorinda returns to her old home as new owner, financially independent. She's now able to educate herself formally and informally, schooling herself in her own personal history, learning about her mother who died as she was born, the secrets of her step-brother Jem's birth and the repressed emotions of her relationship with him. As she does so, she's able to break the ties - and reforge them for a new future that builds on her past. This is a strong novel of selfrealisation but I fear that constraints of GCSE and Revised National Curriculum set texts will make it harder for teachers and students to discover it - and perhaps it ought to be sixth-formers who read it.