Gemma
A Novel
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4.9 • 7 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
After Hazen Wood kidnaps twelve-year-old Gemma Sullivan, the two embark upon a cross-country journey that tests the limits of Gemma's endurance. In scenes of physical and sexual violence, Hazen tries to destroy the young girl's will. When she does manage to escape he drags her back and threatens to have her arrested for the violent acts he performs. It is only Gemma's resilience and fertile imagination that protects her from the worst of the trauma she suffers. And, in the end, it is the healing power of unconditional love that gives Gemma the courage to speak out against her abuser at last and claim the life she deserves.
Alternating between the voices of Gemma and Hazen Wood, Meg Tilly has brilliantly brought to life powerful and unforgettable characters that will leave you thinking about them long after you turn the last page.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tilly's second novel arrives more than a decade after Singing Songs and more than two decades after the author's defining roles as Chloe in The Big Chill and as the title character of Agnes of God. But Tilly's not wasting any time less than halfway through the first chapter, her 12-year-old title character is well into graphic descriptions of the systematic rape she's endured since she was eight. By the end of chapter two, she's been kidnapped by the man to whom her mother's boyfriend had nonchalantly sold her for sex. And by the end of chapter three, he's been collared in turn by the criminal justice system. The second half of the book sees Gemma taken in by a generous and capable foster mother who grew up with similar abuse, and who encourages her to tell her story at trial. Tilly leaves them awaiting a verdict. While this is in some ways an effective novel, its directness has a lot in common with social services pamphlets and with child pornography. Its intentional artlessness may be valuable to those who have been through the worst and are recovering, but for unwary readers lured by the sunny pink cover, and particularly for young readers untouched by these issues, it presents real NC-17 horrors.
