A Question of Conscience Speak out or stay silent? That is the question that is left on the lips of anyone that reads this novel. And the subject.... 'Female Genital Mutilation'. So what would you do if you stumbled upon an illegal back room procedure where little girls are being mutilated in a college campus facility. Intuitively you may think the answer is obvious and perhaps it is. But then a few people start to point out the potential consequences of revealing what went on, the effect on livelihoods in a cash strapped world where students need support, counsellors need their jobs and the vulnerable are likely to be used as scapegoats by unscrupulous people in positions of authority. Cultural Differences in Societies Suddenly things aren't quite as clear as they first were, rationalisation starts to creep in....it is their culture after all, they have done this for generations, if they promise to stop then at least there will be no more little girls mutilated.... not on our watch! Personal circumstances may not be great either, perhaps there is just too much to deal with already without taking on more hassle. Life is already crap, relationships very fraught and there is a need to grieve for loved ones recently lost. Then the question starts to change 'why should it be me that takes the responsibility?, I reported it to a higher authority, it's not my fault nothing has been done'.....but the nightmares won't go away, the image of the little girl pinned to a bed screaming in pain, blood trickling onto the sheet! This is the second novel by Susannah Carlton and, like her first novel, she pulls no punches. She tells a story as it should be told, with honesty and insight. Insight into a world of the people that have to care for and counsel the vulnerable in a multicultural society. One that is short of the funds and resources needed to allow them to do their jobs properly. So who really is to blame when things go badly wrong and the vulnerable suffer the consequences, read this novel and you may just find out.