15-year-old Neveah leads a double-life. She lives with her mum, Marie, who works nights and isn't too bothered what Neveah gets up to, as long as it doesn't affect her.
When Neveah isn't at school, she’s earning good money by moonlighting as a digital freelancer. Giles, her biggest client, is married with a troubled home life. Neveah lies to him about her age, telling him she's twenty-two and he believes her. Caught in a heated affair, Neveah will do just about anything to stop him from finding out her true age.
But a secret this big can't stay under wraps forever. When it all comes out, the consequences are devastating.
Why do some young girls become sexually active way sooner than is good for them, and if a man has sex with a girl who lies about her age, is he still culpable?
About the Author :
Catherine Evans was born in South Africa, and grew up in a family of bookworms in Swaziland and Malawi. She and her siblings were among a band of feral children growing up in the heart of the African bushland, in tiny communities populated by the good, the bad and the ugly.
After a degree in English Literature and Psychology with UNISA (the University of South Africa), she worked in the City for twenty years. She is currently a Non-Executive Director for Phoenix Copper Limited, which focuses on the exploration of green metals in Idaho, USA.
She lives in Oxfordshire with her husband and daughter. She also has three grown-up stepdaughters. She is also the author of The Wrong'un.
Review :
Giles loves his wife Christine, but they haven’t had sex for seven years, since she was violently attacked. He has no intention of leaving her, but is sleeping with Neavah, the young digital freelancer he employed to design his website.
As well as all the usual things a man risks by having an affair, Giles is also dicing with Christine’s recovery. Neveah told Giles she is 22 when she’s actually 15, so he’s got no idea he’s also flirting with a prison sentence.
The narrative is split between the perspectives of these three, and also people connected to them, including Neavah’s nightclub hostess mother, Marie, and Giles and Christine’s daughter, Serena, who is the victim of an online porn scandal.
It’s brilliant on consent and underage sex — if a man has sex with a girl who lies about her age, is he still culpable? Compelling.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-12546357/DEBUTS.html
