"FAULTLESS." —The Guardian *** "A SLY PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER." —The Observer
Like every other girl in her class, twelve-year-old Justine is drawn to her glamorous, charismatic new teacher and longs to be her pet. However, when a thief begins to target the school, Justine's sense that something isn't quite right grows ever stronger. With each twist of the plot, this gripping story of deception and the corrosive power of guilt takes a yet darker turn. Young as she is, Justine must decide where her loyalties lie.
Set in New Zealand in the 1980s and probing themes of racism, misogyny and the oppressive reaches of Catholicism, Pet will take a rightful place next to other classic portraits of childhood betrayal: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Go-Between, Heavenly Creatures and Au Revoir Les Enfants among them.
Genre: Mystery
Like every other girl in her class, twelve-year-old Justine is drawn to her glamorous, charismatic new teacher and longs to be her pet. However, when a thief begins to target the school, Justine's sense that something isn't quite right grows ever stronger. With each twist of the plot, this gripping story of deception and the corrosive power of guilt takes a yet darker turn. Young as she is, Justine must decide where her loyalties lie.
Set in New Zealand in the 1980s and probing themes of racism, misogyny and the oppressive reaches of Catholicism, Pet will take a rightful place next to other classic portraits of childhood betrayal: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Go-Between, Heavenly Creatures and Au Revoir Les Enfants among them.
Genre: Mystery
Praise for this book
"A remarkable and original writer, whose novels have the golden combination of being both riveting and superbly written." - Lissa Evans
"Catherine Chidgey in Pet mobilises the misgivings shared by all children who love and lose: the fear of being odd, the longing to be special, the horror of being supplanted. This is a novel hard not to swallow [entirely] in one go, by when the reader will be full of hooks and wary as an old pike." - Candia McWilliam
"Refreshing, compelling, and surprising, this novel skirts around familiar tropes to deliver something new and troubling. Sharp writing, keen observations, and killer wit." - Ann Morgan
"A dark and compelling story of guilt and betrayal. Add to it a near-perfect plot twist and you have a novel that lives long in the mind." - Alex Preston
"Catherine Chidgey in Pet mobilises the misgivings shared by all children who love and lose: the fear of being odd, the longing to be special, the horror of being supplanted. This is a novel hard not to swallow [entirely] in one go, by when the reader will be full of hooks and wary as an old pike." - Candia McWilliam
"Refreshing, compelling, and surprising, this novel skirts around familiar tropes to deliver something new and troubling. Sharp writing, keen observations, and killer wit." - Ann Morgan
"A dark and compelling story of guilt and betrayal. Add to it a near-perfect plot twist and you have a novel that lives long in the mind." - Alex Preston
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