Long Gone Anybody

Susannah Waters

A fly on the wall look at some of the USA's lesser known institutions, refreshing enough for that but a rather dark novel on the whole. A nineteen year old runs away from her life and the unexplained departure of her mother. Wherever she goes, the narrator blends in like a chameleon and adopts one identity after another.

Extract

'I've often considered the possibility that maybe my mother gave too much to us, as a mother. That all that special, focused attention just wore her out and suddenly, quite suddenly, she had nothing, absolutely nothing material left to offer. That's why I'm careful with how much I give myself to people. You never know when it might backfire and you end up making your getaway in the middle of the night, without warning, because you can't do it any more.'

Parallels