My Absolute Darling

My Absolute Darling is very easy, and very hard, to read. It is the story of Turtle, who lives with her father, isolated on a wild stretch of the northern California coast. He trains her to navigate and survive in the wilderness—even rescuing the two boys who will become her only friends—and, at the same time, he abuses her. Imagine a slightly older Pippi Longstocking, if Pippi's adventures were terrifying. The brutality of her story is presented head-on, but the terrible questions—why does he do it, why doesn't she leave, will she leave, how will she leave, will he kill her, will anyone notice—are written with complexity and subtlety. It's a startling and memorable book.