The Unexpected Education of Emily Dean, by Mira Robertson

During WWII teenage Emily is sent to country Victoria while her mother is ill. Insecure, lonely, immature Emily hates the family farm and doesn’t particularly like the family. The device of seeing events through Emily’s naïve eyes doesn’t quite work as it leads to a detachment from them and you end up not particularly caring about any of it. Even though the story takes place over only a few weeks, it comes across as a series of vignettes – Emily has a crush, Emily gets drunk, Emily gets a bra, Emily realises her cousin is a Lesbian – rather than as a full narrative. None of the characters is particularly appealing, least of all awkward adolescent Emily. She does manage to grow up a little but not much and her optimistic departure for Melbourne at the end seems overstated.