Starling has lived her entire life in a van with her mother. Travelling from place to place, living off the land and rejecting modern ways of living, this nomadic existence is all she's ever known. Her mother has always taught her that they need no one; that others are untrustworthy - but Starling always thought that meant it was the two of them against the world. She wasn't to know that one day her mother would leave and not return - and that then, alone would truly mean alone.
Starling quickly accepts that she must learn to survive on her own and sets out on foot with no real idea of where she's going, leaving the van, the only home she's ever known, behind.
This novel reminded me of the Jacqueline Wilson books I read as a kid; a lost young girl with a complicated background off on an adventure. Sarah Jane Butler is an immersive author, you really feel as though you're trekking through the woods and slogging along in a downpour of rain along with poor Starling. It's a wild and wonderful debut novel.
Review by Abi.
Starling was published on 29/09/22 by Fairlight Books.
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