The Runaway - Claire Wong

I'm catching up on posting some reviews for books published in the last couple of years, and this one is a corker!

Rhiannon lives in a Welsh village with her aunt, who is the backbone of the village but the bane of Rhiannon’s life.   After yet another row Rhiannon runs away. 

This isn’t a well planned departure.  As she says in the story: “I didn’t technically plan or pack for this outcome. As I left, I grabbed the bag on the landing because I figured that if you storm out without taking anything with you, you’re just an angry person going for a walk; but if you’re carrying some kind of luggage, then you’re someone who is leaving for good.”  However Rhiannon is a stubborn and capable young woman who manages to hide away in a derelict house in the nearby Dyrys Wood.  

The story is told from her perspective and those from the village, where her disappearance is causing cracks to appear in the day to day lives of the locals. Cracks which are put under more strain than ever when two strangers arrive and uncomfortable truths from the past begin to emerge. 

This is a beautifully created and written story.  It’s one of those books where the pleasure is in the actual writing as much as in the story.  I love mysteries and ancient stories, and both are woven seamlessly into this wonderful debut novel.