‘Exile’ by Denise Mina

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Published by Bantam Press, 3 August 2000.
ISBN: 0-340-76079-0 (HB)

'She's dead,’ said the woman. But she wasn't, she was
alive, and she heard them.

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In this the second book by
Denise Mina, Maureen O'Donnell is attempting to come to terms with the death of
her lover, the fact that her father is back in Glasgow and living in close
proximity to her, a dangerous threatening game being played out by her former
therapist, and the continual storming of her defences by her mother.
To appease her conscience of
the money left to her by Douglas, her former lover, Maureen has taken some
voluntary work with the 'Place of Safety Shelters'. When her best friend Leslie
comes to her expressing her concern for one Ann Harris, a battered woman, who
has suddenly left the shelter, and disappeared. Maureen is confused by Leslie's
concern and by the widening gap in their friendship. Maureen is convinced that
Ann has not been battered by her husband, but if not by him, who?
The circumstances surrounding
Ann's disappearance take Maureen to London, looking for answers, but the overriding
enthralment in this fascinating mystery is in the incredible characterisation,
and the sad reality of those trapped in a dangerous way of life. It is powerful
in its portrayal of family and friends in crisis, and pain and suffering, and
laughter and tears. It takes you in a roller coaster of emotions.

A compelling read. One of
those books that stays in your mind.
------
Reviewer: Lizzie Hayes



Denise
Mina was born in 1966 in Glasgow. She worked as an
auxiliary nurse in geriatric and terminal care nursing homes before studying
law at Glasgow University. As an academic researcher she has written
extensively on the medicalization of deviant women, and until recently she
taught Criminology and Criminal Law. She lives in Glasgow, where she now writes
full time.