Another Weston Mystery Book Club choice and also a New York Times Notable Book. Set in the Washington, D.C., suburbs during the summer of the Watergate break-ins, Berne’s assured, skillful first novel is about what can happen when a child’s accusation is the only lead in a case of sexual assault and murder.
“A remarkable first novel…that captures the history of child-parent relations for the last quarter of a century.”–The New York Times Book Review “Like Alice McDermott’s That Night and in the tradition of Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird, Suzanne Berne has crafted a child’s disillusionment that mirrors a greater disaffection.”–Newsday
“The ethical issues that unfold as a result are at least as absorbing as Marsha’s own guilt and fascination over her act of false accusation. Berne’s skill with language and her talent for evoking believable, all-too-human characters add to this fascinating story of evil and fear, and the unexpected consequences they engender.” — Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates