"Tell me something visceral, something that's as part of you as your breath or teeth, that you don't even know how to lie about.." Peter's plea to Hattie. Hattie is a 17 year old young woman whose aspiration is to go to New York and become an actress. A role to which she is evidently well suited, s she plays different roles for different people and situations throughout her life. She is clever and manipulative. Hattie hates her small town, narrow life and when Peter arrives as her teacher he offers something new and exciting. They are inadvertently pulled together and all that Peter stands for is all that Hattie wants. Peter is a lonely, weak man who gets drawn into Hattie's .dreams. She appears to be his saviour from the helplessness he feels in his dying marriage. The panacea he seemingly can't resist.The murder is almost incidental to the lives of Peter and Hattie as they embark on their affair. The constant references to Macbeth and the curse are a little tiresome and, I thought, unnecessary.
However the portrayal of a doomed relationship set in the context of worldwide small town communities, is well worth the read.

NOTE: This book also has the title “Everything You Want Me to Be”

For me this novel was a simply incredible read. I’ll be honest and say I think the alternative (US?) title suits it better but a rose by any other name and all that…..

The story follows Hattie during the last year of her life, her death is a given and there is an extremely small suspect pool so don’t go into this thinking it’s a whodunnit with a huge twist in the tale, you’ll only be disappointed. This is a brilliantly written and intuitive character study of one young girl trying to find her place in the world and the tragedy that befalls her. Told from 3 separate points of view, Hattie, the sheriff and her high school teacher, the story unfolds with perfect pacing and perfectly placed little gems of information but the real beauty of it is in Hattie herself – a divisive and compelling character who slowly but surely comes into focus and comes into her own.

It is haunting and poignant, because you feel the ending from the beginning – whether you love or detest Hattie you can’t save her, it gives an edge and sense of awareness to proceedings that makes the whole thing utterly gripping. The twist in this novel is in the sense of the characters and whilst this is not a new concept – seeing what comes before the fall – Mindy Mejia does it with a deft touch and a real eye for eliciting emotional responses from the reader making Hattie unforgettable. All of them actually, the ones we hear from and the ones we see through their eyes – families, friends, a community in turmoil and what, or who, brought them to that point.

The author peels back the layers one at a time, drawing you in, keeping you hovering above the crash that is coming – whilst at the same time plunging you into the hidden emotional depths of the people concerned. It is at turns heartbreaking and cruelly ironic, a really intense piece of storytelling that digs deep.

I loved it because I love the ones that make me feel it every step of the way from the first sentence to the last and that is what this did.

Highly Recommended.