Description
Book SynopsisFive-year-old Kerrie-Ann Hill has an unusual neighbour. Mrs Ivanovich collects butterflies and she shows Kerrie-Ann how to catch them, take care of them, and evenhow to kill them using a jar and some funny-smelling liquid. Kerrie-Ann loves looking at these beautiful, delicate creatures, and imagines them flying free...
This is Kerrie-Ann''s story. She doesn''t know who her father is, and her mother is a junkie. By the age of ten, she''s selling drugs at school. By twelve, she''s been beaten up by a customer, hidden stolen guns, done time in a girls'' home, and already has a taste for whizz.
And then there''s Mark - her only true friend and the one person she can trust. Their friendship turns into a powerful love and together they are invincible. But in their world it''s easy to lose control. On the drug-riddled estate with an atmosphere as lethal as a killing jar, it seems that Kerrie-Ann doesn''t stand a chance. Unless she can make use of what Mrs Ivanovich taught he
Trade Review
Nicola Monaghan has produced an utterly compelling and depressing narrative of life on a council estate in one of Nottingham’s worst boroughs… [A]n inspiring debut. -- James Walker * Left Lion *
Kerrie Ann's strident voice sounds authentic; her plight compelling and affecting * Independent on Sunday *
Monaghan's novel is direct and deceptively simple. In spite of the suffering there are surprising touches of humour and tenderness that bloom like flowers on asphalt -- Frank Egerton * The Times *
A shocking glimpse of Nottingham gangland -- Christina Patterson * Independent *
A powerful, loving and honest new voice -- A.L. Kennedy
