Hurry Up and Wait

In her eagerly anticipated second novel, Mail on Sunday Novel Competition winner Isabel Ashdown explores the treacherous territory of adolescent friendships, and traces across the decades the repercussions of a dangerous relationship. In August 1985, Sarah Ribbons celebrates her 15th birthday in the back garden of the suburban seaside house she shares with her aging father. As she embarks on her final year at Selton High School for Girls, Sarah's main focus is on her erratic friendships with Tina and Kate, her closest allies one moment, her fiercest opponents the next, as they compete for the attention of the new boy, Dante. When her father is unexpectedly taken ill, Sarah is sent to stay with Kate's family. The girls have never been closer—until events take a sinister turn. Now, as she prepares for her school reunion, 39-year-old Sarah has to face up to the truth of what really happened back in the summer of 1986.