Promise, by Sarah Armstrong

The gut-wrenching topic of child abuse is made slightly more palatable by looking at it from the point of view of someone who is trying to help. Anna is put in the position of not being able to ignore the abuse when her new next-door neighbours loudly thrust it in her face. And faced with the same situation – of a small child asking for your help and a child protection system seemingly ignoring the problem – what would you do? This novel cuts through the bullshit to pose that question to all of us. Fearing for the child’s safety, Anna takes drastic action and inevitably must face the consequences. The clear, direct writing avoids clichés and caricatures. The developing relationship between Anna and the child, Charlie, is believable and moving. As we learn more about Anna’s history the reader better understands her motivations and where this might lead, as does she. The action moves around between Sydney, country New South Wales and the Gold Coast and the geography is slightly confusing to anyone unfamiliar with the terrain, but this is only a minor distraction from the plot. The book would probably make a good film. You often hear the phrase, “until you’re a parent you can’t understand” but assured tale indicates that just maybe you can.