And Now You Can Go by Vendela Vida

And Now You Can Go

Vendela Vida

Ellis, a 21 year old student, survives being threatened by a gunman as she walks in her local park in New York but the after-shocks reverberate throughout her personal life. The middle of the story has a completely different setting as Ellis goes to the Philippines with her Mum, which makes the story seem like a three-act play. An easy, yet intriguing read written in a deadpan style.

Extract
I wonder if all my belongings - the skirt I sewed and spray-painted in high school, my softball bat from sixth grade, the concert ticket stubs I saved - would have weight, be more valued, if I'd been killed in the park. I know that if my father died tomorrow I'd keep the basin. I'd tell the story of his last night, how he sat with me while I soothed my feet. I try to appreciate my father, his stories, his love, all of it. I swallow it in like I'm holding my breath before diving under water.
Parallels
  • Baby Shoes by Dawn Garisch
  • Mother's Boys by Margaret Forster
  • Lost in Translation - the film
Buy this book Borrow this book
Explicit sexual content