Winterlight by Martha Engber is the story of 15-year-old Mary Donohue. Her mum died when she was little and her dad is an alcoholic, she has three brothers, all older, and two of them could not care any less about her. Mary is definitely not getting it easy in life. She escapes by partying more than doing her school work and chooses to hang around with the burnouts at school. One unusual day she makes friends with one of the preppy girls and from the moment she has a peek at a better life..that is what she wants.

Set in the 70s and written in such a detailed way, I was truly immersed in Mary’s world. Not one I experienced myself but I felt I was experiencing it through this marvellous story. Martha Engber has definitely found a way to convey the harsh life Mary leads, she doesn’t sugar coat a thing, right down to the bitterness of the Chicago winter. These little details seem to make a difference and create a beautifully written, roll with the punches world.

Mary is created as a fully fleshed out kid, one that your heart goes out to, even if you have never experienced anything she is going through now, you feel it with her. The realistically depicted world and her life give you the knowledge that you need to realise the knock-on effect of one thing going wrong creates a domino effect in her life. I had to tear myself away from the book to carry on in my own life, that’s how powerful this book is. I just needed to carry on with Mary, everything else was an intrusion!

A book that has stayed with me since and I feel that it will stay for a while to come yet!

Thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and Martha Engber for the copy of the book for my review today.