I Am Lucky Bird — Fleur Philips

Fleur Philips' I AM LUCKY BIRD is an intensely gripping, deeply emotional literary novel, telling the heart-wrenching narrative of its young protagonist, Lucky Bird, after her mother AnnMarie mysteriously vanishes, and her childhood comes to an abrupt end. Left alone to defend herself against her suddenly abusive grandmother, Marian Bird, and forced to endure the twisted predatory game played out by Marian's lover Tom Cressfield, Lucky's life soon descends into a nightmare. Even when she manages to escape, the outside world can't take away the brutal images of her past. Still haunted by her mother's disappearance and the trauma that followed, Lucky is easily led down a path of self-destruction, a path that only the intervention of a handsome young stranger and his family seems to offer any hope of guiding her away from. But first, she will have to confront her demons, and the dark truths that they kept hidden... I Am Lucky Bird has made it onto the 2011 list of finalists for ForeWord Reviews' Book Of The Year Awards- surely only the first of many awards to come!