Publisher Description
'Just *wonderful*. A breath of fresh air in a book. Sal is a story with incredible heart, told so beautifully and with such clarity and grace I can hardly believe it's a debut! I loved it' JOANNA CANNON, author of THE TROUBLE WITH GOATS AND SHEEP
AN OBSERVER 'NEW FACE OF FICTION 2018'
This is a story of something like survival.
Sal planned it for almost a year before they ran. She nicked an Ordnance Survey map from the school library. She bought a compass, a Bear Grylls knife, waterproofs and a first aid kit from Amazon using stolen credit cards. She read the SAS Survival Handbook and watched loads of YouTube videos.
And now Sal knows a lot of stuff. Like how to build a shelter and start a fire. How to estimate distances, snare rabbits and shoot an airgun. And how to protect her sister, Peppa. Because Peppa is ten, which is how old Sal was when Robert started on her.
Told in Sal's distinctive voice, and filled with the silent, dizzying beauty of rural Scotland, Sal is a disturbing, uplifting story of survival, of the kindness of strangers, and the irrepressible power of sisterly love; a love that can lead us to do extraordinary and unimaginable things.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Salmarina “Sal” Brown has committed a brutal crime. However, in his brilliant debut novel, Mick Kitson only elicits fierce sympathy for the 13-year-old as she evades the police by living rough in the Scottish wilderness with her half-sister Peppa. Told in Sal’s fresh and authentic voice, this riveting adventure story examines the remarkable compassion and fortitude of victims of abuse. With prose as crisp and clear as the highland air, Kitson places us deep into rural Scotland, as well as the minds of people forced to opt out of a society that neglects them.
