‘The Pain Eater’ – Beth Goobie

She hadn’t told anyone. Not a single soul. Not one word about that night and what had been done to her had ever passed Maddy Malone’s lips. She’d thought about it at first – had been desperate, even frantic, to tell. But then had come the shame, and the intimidation from the boys who raped her – and the one who held her down.

Now it’s the beginning of a new school year and Maddy is hoping that she can continue to hide, making herself as quiet and small as possible. She is consumed with keeping the memories at bay, forcing them down through small cuts and the burn from the end of a cigarette. But when her English class is given the assignment of writing a collaborative novel about a fifteen-year-old girl, The Pain Eater, fact and fiction begin to meet up. When the boys spread rumors about Maddy, she realizes that continuing to hide the truth will only give them more control, and she slowly gains the courage to confront them.

From its opening Prologue, where we are told about the rape of fourteen-year-old Maddy, this is a powerful read.

The novel actually focuses on the events of a year after the attack. Maddy has told no-one of what happened to her, and she is used to keeping her head down and being invisible. Over the year since the attack, Maddy has worked out the identities of her attackers and things come to a head when she finds herself in English class with two of them.

The class are set an intriguing task-a collaborative story. And so begins a fascinating read.

As much about the creative act of writing as it is about Maddy’s brave decision to finally speak about what happened, this novel is powerful. Like a number of books on this topic, I feel this should be a must-read for teenagers.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This is one book I’ll be urging my students to consider when it’s published! As of September 2nd, Amazon.co.uk are indicating that the Kindle version of the novel will be available from 13th September 2016 while the paperback version is available for pre-order (scheduled release March 2017).