March 12, 2018
Writing in second person, Savage (Beautiful Broken Girls) introduces Jo, a 15-year-old girl, trained to be a con artist; Jo has taken on the identity of a young woman, Vivienne Weir, who disappeared years before. Readers will soon come to understand that the "you" being addressed is Temple, daughter of the wealthy Lovecrafts, friends of the late Weirs who take "Vivi" in. Vivi immediately senses that Temple is suspicious of her, and as Savage's complex plot unspools, Vivi turns out to be the least in-the-know about what happened to the real Vivienne. Savage layers charade upon charade as this dark story full of sinister charactersâTemple most of allâdescends into turmoil and confusion. An ambitious, twisted story of adopted sisters that raises intriguing questions about privilege, poverty, and morality. Ages 14-up. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties.