A quietly strong and beautiful read that flows eloquently and expressively from the page. Eleven-year-old Indy and her older brother travel to South Africa to stay with their father. Indy speaks of her time away, the author skilfully voices Indy’s honest thoughts and feelings and you can quite literally hear her as you read. Separately we also hear the story of Karen, Indy’s Mum; her tale weaves backwards and forwards through time yet somehow synchronises with Indy’s. As you read further, the unveiling of innermost and very private thoughts enable a window to be opened into a challenging world. Thought-provoking and compelling, this is an intriguing novel.
When 11-year-old Indigo and her older brother Robin arrive in South Africa to stay with their father, they find a luxury lifestyle that is a world away from their modest existence back in England. But Indigo is uneasy in the foreign landscape and confused by the family's silence surrounding her mother's recent death. Unable to find solace in either new or old faces, she begins to harbour violent suspicions in place of the truth. Steeped in the dry heat of a South African summer, this keen and touching debut seamlessly interweaves the voices of Indigo and her mother, and beautifully captures the human desire to belong: in a family, in a country, in your own skin.
'Rarely has a child narrator been written so convincingly, and with so much obvious (and deserved) affection from its author - Though this is a novel slender in form, it's a hugely sating read. It speaks of family (truthfully), of loss (sensitively), of growing up (tenderly, beautifully). Compelling, beautiful and poetic, this is a book to get utterly lost in.'
- Bookgroup Info 'A book of heat, loss, wit and aching tenderness. Tim Crouch
'A moving and recognisable exploration of a family struggling to manage and openly process the death of a mother... stranded in a foreign land both literally and metaphorically Indy is left to construct her own version of the truth. Beautifully paced... compelling but never sentimental.' Karen Rose, Sweet Talk Productions
'Sensitively written, this is a heart rending tale of a young girl trying to make sense of her life while accepting loss and change.' We Love This Book
'In tone and content I could compare it to Nathan Filer's The Shock of the Fall... Alarm Girl is a subtle and yet powerful novel.' - --Writer's Hub: Ten Books To Read
'Beautifully written, the heat and landscapes of South Africa leap off the page as Indy's story unfolds.'
- Bella Magazine 'An assured exposition of grief, belonging and the nature of self. Convincing characterisation and strong evocations of South Africa and suburban Britain conspire to turn a simple tale into a book which lingers in the mind.
- Sussex Life
Author
About Hannah Vincent
Hannah Vincent began her writing life as a playwright after studying drama at the University of East Anglia. Her plays include The Burrow, Throwing Stones (Royal Court Theatre) and Hang (National Theatre Studio). She joined the BBC as a television script editor, working on classic adaptations as well as original drama serials from 1996 - 2001. She now teaches Creative Writing for the Open University. She completed the MA in Creative Writing at Kingston University London in 2012 and is currently studying for her PhD at the University of Sussex. Alarm Girl is Hannah's first novel, an extract from which was shortlisted for the Writer's Retreat Competition. It was also shortlisted for the 2013 Hookline Novel Competition.
