Published: 05/09/2024
ISBN: 9781914148613
Price: £10.99
Format: Paperback with flaps
We were wild animals after all. And some of the ones with the biggest teeth.
Sixteen-year-old Smidge is on the run, burdened with a shameful secret. Together with her fellow runaway, a performance artist called Violet, she travels through the underbelly of America, desperately searching for a way to rise above her past.
On meeting a travelling circus filled with misfits and drifters, they think they might have found a home. But as Violet is drawn under the influence of its sinister ringleader, Smidge learns that belonging comes with a price.
Forced to choose between her past and present, Smidge must confront the shame that has shaped her, and return to face her flawed mother, before it is too late.
Brazen, tender and painfully raw, Please Fear Me is a biting exploration of complex family ties, addiction and survival.
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‘Written with dark wit and knife-sharp prose, Please Fear Me is a fierce debut by Jennifer Love. Teenage Smidge navigates the world around her with clarity of selfhood defined not by the obliterating damage caused by others, but with deep compassion and an instinct for life.’ — Melanie Finn, author of The Hare
‘A poignant and atmospheric coming of age story. Smidge’s deadpan wit never detracts from the depth and beauty of her interior world. Jennifer Love has produced the literary equivalent of the best kind of road movie.’ — Ola Mustapha, author of Other Names, Other Places
Heart-wrenchingly emotional and confrontational yet beautifully empathetic and touching, this novel balances pain and hope with wonderful eloquence. Please Fear Me deserves to fly as it explores the meaning of family, freedom, and self. Highly recommended. — LoveReading