Sue Wells — Nearly twelve

Tandem 2001 Paperback, 232pp. A girl struggles to sleep on the night before her twelfth birthday. She knows many things she shouldn't and can't control the images that keep her awake. Small things trigger memories too big to be shut away in the quiet place inside her head. As the story unfolds we are drawn into a complicated web of family relationships, seen through the eyes of this child. The adult reader is captured by the child's intelligence, humour, gutsy observations and reactions. Although she has suffered at the hands of her extended family, we begin to understand her reasons for protecting these adults and her means of protecting herself. This absorbing and emotionally revealing work of fiction is a realistic but also very readable novel about disclosure, told through the voice of a delightful character who has lost almost everything - but kept her spirit.Sue Wells is a Christchurch City Councillor and former radio talkback host. She has worked in radio and television since graduating from the University of Canterbury in 1986. Nearly Twelve is her first novel. (ISBN: 9781877178801). Near Mint.