Author(s): Jacqueline Lunn

Fiction.

Eve, now 34 and a concert cellist living in London, returns to an Australian country town for the funeral of her old school friend, Meg. As Eve and Sarah, also a school friend, face their friend Meg's death, they must also face the past and the secret the three women shared. Eve, Meg and Sarah met as boarders at Hetherington Girls' School in leafy Sydney. Eve's parents own a chemist in a mid-sized rural NSW town. She is thoughtful, talented and uncomplicated. Meg is the tomboy of the group, the only child of a sheep farmer from western NSW. Sarah's parents live in the city and she is a weekly boarder. Her parents are busy professionals. Sarah tries not to look out the window of the boarding house and see the red tiled roof of her home four kilometres away. Life changes for the girls when Rebecca Thornton arrives. Some bullies are created from the perfect storm: insecurity, intelligence, looks, a need for attention. Rebecca was born one. In Years Eight and Nine at Hetherington, Rebecca plays her psychological games with Eve. There are small hits and big ones. She draws Eve in, making Eve want to be her friend, and throws her away for everyone's amusement. At 15, Rebecca and her family go overseas, Meg returns from her scholarship and the girls' lives appear to return to normal. But in their final year of school Rebecca returns. She befriends the girls, then begins her games again.