Tara Button works hard, discourages friendships andspends a lot of time bailing out troubled younger brother, Zac. He is as chaotic as she is controlled. Zac is friendly, can’t hold down a job and is in and out of rehab.
When their dying mother asks Tara and Zac to drive the canary yellow family caravan from Perth up the coast to the hospice where she lives,Tara’s instinct is to refuse. But Zac convinces her to make the trip. They are accompanied by Zac’s childhood friend Danh, who Tara hopes will help her keep Zac out of trouble.
Tara and Zac are scarred by a traumatic childhood, the details of which are slowly revealed through flashback chapters.Tara is swamped by memories she has spent years running away from and worried by the mysterious bikies who seem to be following them. Can a rediscovered love of the ocean and friendship with Danh help Tara fly free from the cage she has imprisoned herself in?
My heart ached for Tara, who has spent her life blaming herself for things outside her control. Wasley sensitively portrays the impact their childhood has had on Tara and Zac as adults. There is darkness, but overwhelmingly, the story is about hope as a courageous Tara learns that she does deserve good things.
Reveiwed by Meinda Woledge
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sasha Wasley was born and raised in Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia. She holds a PhD in feminist literature and loves nature, Jane Austen and puns.
Sasha loves the Australian environment and has a fascination with animals, trees and our extraordinary wild landscape. She likes nothing better than exploring the countryside, going on adventures and discovering new sights. She regularly attends regional and city-based literary events and is always delighted to be invited to festivals.
Sasha is an advocate for literacy and creativity and runs writing workshops for children and adults, as well as offering mentoring services. She is a WA Ambassador for Books in Homes Australia charity promoting early book ownership for life success.
Sasha can’t seem to constrain herself to one genre. She writes middle grade fiction as Ash Harrier and paranormal young adult novels as S.D. Wasley. Her debut novel was published in 2015 and by the end of 2023 she will have 16 published novels in the world, including A Caravan Like a Canary. Today, she lives in the Perth hills region with her partner and two daughters, surrounded by dogs, cats and chickens.
She is honoured and grateful to live and write on Whadjuk Noongar land.
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