Cassy smiled, blew them a kiss. ‘See you in September,’ she said. It was a throwaway line. Just words uttered casually by a young woman in a hurry. And then she’d gone.
It was supposed to be a short trip – a break in New Zealand before her best friend’s wedding. But when Cassy waved goodbye to her parents, they never dreamed that it would be years before they’d see her again.
Having broken up with her boyfriend, Cassy accepts an invitation to stay in an idyllic farming collective. Overcome by the peace and beauty of the valley and swept up in the charisma of Justin, the community’s leader, Cassy becomes convinced that she has to stay.
As Cassy becomes more and more entrenched in the group’s rituals and beliefs, her frantic parents fight to bring her home – before Justin’s prophesied Last Day can come to pass.
A powerful story of family, faith and finding yourself, See You in September is an unputdownable new novel from this hugely compelling author
My Review: I absolutely adore everything Charity Norman writes as I know the subject matter will be original, thought-provoking and powerful and See You in September is exactly that. Cassy is a 21 year old girl who goes travelling with her boyfriend and ends up hitchhiking and taking a lift from a very friendly, smiley group of people who invite her back to their community. Thus begins her transformation and she becomes absorbed in their way of life and beliefs.
Reading the book through both Cassy’s and her family’s viewpoint was fascinating. The ripple effect of Cassy’s decision to turn away from her family and old way of life and how this affected her mother, father, sister and grandmother was heartbreaking, yet the author manages to bring such empathy into Cassy’s situation you can’t feel anything but pity for everyone involved. I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.
About the Author: Charity Norman was born in Uganda, the seventh child of missionary parents, and brought up in successive draughty vicarages in Yorkshire and Birmingham. After several years’ travel she became a barrister in the North-east of England, specialising in crime and family law, and later in mediation. In 2002, realising that her three children had barely met her, she took a break from the law and moved with her family to New Zealand. Her debut novel Freeing Grace was published in 2011. After the Fall (Second Chances in Aus/NZ) followed in 2013 and was selected for the Richard & Judy Book Club. The Son-in-Law was also published in 2013. The New Woman was published in 2015 and was selected for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club (The Secret Life of Luke Livingstone in Aus/NZ).
Charity’s always delighted to hear from readers – find her on Facebook at facebook.com/charitynormanauthor and on Twitter as @charitynorman1
