When a fourteen year old girl, Jenny, is found at the side of the road covered in blood and clearly having been assaulted, Specialist Victim Interviewers Laura and Niamh are called in to gently find out what's happened to her.
But Jenny is angry, and traumatised, and she's not talking. Or not in ways that make much sense. And when further information comes to light - her mother and little brother have suffered critical injuries, and her stepfather is missing - it becomes even more urgent to somehow piece together the truth.
Laura, though, has her own issues - exacerbated since the birth of her young daughter - to deal with, and it's not getting any easier.
The Interview was an engrossing read if not always a comfortable one - inside Jenny's head, and indeed Laura's, are not easy places to be. Jenny tells dark fairy tales to allude to what's happened to her; Laura experiences horrific thoughts and fears and can't push them away.
(Laura's mental health struggles and experiences with OCD and intrusive thoughts were very well done, I thought - my partner has similar issues, and I appreciated the careful, realistic way this was addressed.)
It was interesting, and believable, that due to bed shortages Jenny has been placed temporarily on an adult psychiatric ward, mainly, it seems, among elderly women with dementia. Jenny's interactions with the nurses and her fellow patients add a further dimension to the story.
The Interview is an excellent if disturbing read which considers the effects of trauma, both long and short term. Abuse - sexual, emotional and physical - is a major theme and readers should be aware of this, as it's very distressing and hard to read at times, but sensitively and responsibly addressed.
A superb first novel by Gill Perdue which I can highly recommend. Many thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advance copy.
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