Highly intelligent Rose has dreams of becoming an actress. While she never imagined that she could truly be just herself with anyone, loving Michael changes that. They believe their love is absolute. When Rose tells Michael of her pregnancy everything within their sphere shatters. His life is forfeited. His studies, future and all that his father and he planned he would become, are snatched away. Her life’s design takes a similar course.
They have no one to turn to for help or advice. Love is not enough to solve something this ruinous. Michael’s religious parents would condemn his actions and their outcomes. Rose’s almost always absent father and clueless mother are out of the question. Fear keeps them silent.
Only Liv, Rose’s best friend and total opposite in all things, shares their secret. She is a powerful character in the book. Her profile is a singular story and the role she plays defined and strong.
Tragedy strikes their lives when Rose goes into anguished denial. ‘If I say it, it will come to be’ she believes. So, to her, the pregnancy is gone. Michael withdraws into silence and secrecy.
This story is about love, its unforeseen outcomes, and the question of how far would someone go in their attempts to support the person they love?
Title: A Small Madness
Author: Dianne Touchell
Publisher: Allen& Unwin, $16.99 RRP
Publication Date: Jan 2015
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781760110789
For ages: 15+
Type: Young Adult Fiction
