(affiliate link)
Sometimes, you pick up a book and its premise resonates in a way neither you nor the author anticipated. That’s what happened for me with The Other Side Of Beautiful (kindly sent to me for review by my friends at Harper Collins).
I doubt that Kim Lock foresaw that I’d be reading her book about Mercy Blain, a woman terrified to leave her house, while I was locked down and not allowed to leave the house… but here we are.
Luckily, Mercy Blain’s story is warm and heart-felt, one of overcoming fear and finding home wherever you are.
It opens with a really tight first chapter, one that will grab you and not let go: Mercy watches her house burn down, forcing her out into the world that she’s been avoiding for years.
She finds herself in a camper van, with her ever-faithful sausage dog Wasabi (my absolute hands-down favourite character) by her side, driving the length of Australia, from Adelaide to Darwin.
Lock’s alarmingly accurate depictions of Mercy’s physical experience of anxiety were a little triggering, to be honest, but the wonderful rhythm of her writing carried me through the discomfort.
This is one of the best books I’ve read this year.
Buy The Other Side Of Beautiful on Booktopia here. (affiliate link)
Leave a Reply