Books like How the Light Gets in by M.J. Hyland
M.J. Hyland’s debut follows Lou Connor, a gifted yet unhappy sixteen‑year‑old who escapes a life of poverty in Sydney for an exchange programme at a school in America. Host family members in Illinois offer her a beautiful house and a warm welcome, but the suburban mansion’s repressed atmosphere soon turns unsettling. Hyland’s narrative sharply observes the trials of adolescence, the contradictions of teen girls’ lives, and the subtle hypocrisies of middle‑class America, all filtered through Lou’s vivacity and vulnerability.
First publish date: 2004
Genre: Coming of Age/Teen Coming of Age
Authors: M.J. Hyland
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