Romy Grey is used to people giving her funny looks and ostracising her. In part, it’s because her father was renowned for his drunken behaviour but it’s also because she accused the sheriff’s son of rape.
Since her claims were discredited because she had been drinking, wore a short skirt and fancied him (sensing a pattern here!), Romy has got used to spending time alone. Her friends have cut her off, and she is taunted mercilessly as nobody is prepared to believe the town’s golden boy might not be quite so golden as they want him to be.
Romy is a prickly character – perhaps understandably – and I always had the feeling that those close to her were simply waiting for an explosion. It’s almost as if they are waiting for her to accept what happened to her so they can start the process of supporting her.
After the school’s annual lakeside party, where it’s a ritual for students to drink illegally, Romy is found on a road some miles from town, her clothes torn and the words ‘Rape Me’ written on her stomach. She shuts down and hides from what she thinks has happened. Then she learns that a girl who used to be a close friend has also gone missing.
I was already angry at the attitudes shown by so many of the characters in this novel. What follows made me even more angry.
This was a powerful story that explored some of the issues around rape. The jumping time frame did make it hard to follow at times, but the end gave some hint that there might be some form of happy ending for Romy. I didn’t find this quite as powerful as ‘Asking For It’ by Louise O’Neill, but it’s certainly a valuable story.