CW: Suicidal thoughts

2.5 Stars ( )

17 year old Tara McClusky is grieving her older sister, Van, who died five years ago. Barrier's to her healing include having to take on a caregiving role for her paralysed father and cope with a psychologically abusive mother. She has cut down her school hours in order to work afternoons in a rest home and help financially support her mother to pay the mortgage on their 'leaky home'. Her only solace is her art, her obsession with Vincent Van Gogh and her hope to win a scholarship to art school.

Tara's crisis point occurs when she discovers that her older sister was not killed in a car accident in Ireland as she was told, but rather took her own life. During her spiral out of control, one of her temporary rest home patients, along with his grandson, provide the support she needs as she unravels yet more family secrets.

This is one of the most important books I have read for a while. Hager tackles the suicide issue very well, even including an author's note at the end about her own struggle and where to go for help. ( )