Penance by Eliza Clark

£14.99

Bookseller Review

‘The book opens with 16 year old Joni’s death and we see her gruesome and brutal demise at the hands of a trio of other teenage girls. What comes next is the how and the why and we follow a journalist researching the case to write his book.

Set in the faded glamour of the British seaside, Clark explores the decay of Northern seaside towns and the political divides that are allowed to fester in these environments. Very notably, the murder takes place on the eve of the Brexit vote. Clark critically explores the way we consume true crime content and it’s clear she knows her stuff and has done her research thoroughly.

I had a lot to think about but it cannot be understated – this was so entertaining! Living in the minds of these grizzly and disturbed teenage girls, through their blog posts and their interactions with each other. Eliza Clark writes the type of multi-dimensional female villains I love to see represented and brought to life.’ – Elle

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Description

It’s been nearly a decade since the horrifying murder of sixteen-year-old Joan Wilson rocked Crow-on-Sea, and the events of that terrible night are now being published for the first time. That story is ‘Penance’, a dizzying feat of masterful storytelling, where Eliza Clark manoeuvres us through accounts from the inhabitants of this small seaside town. Placing us in the capable hands of journalist Alec. Z. Carelli, Clark allows him to construct what he claims is the ‘definitive account’ of the murder – and what led up to it. Built on hours of interviews with witnesses and family members, painstaking historical research, and most notably, correspondence with the killers themselves, the result is a riveting snapshot of lives rocked by tragedy, and a town left in turmoil.

Additional information

Cover

Hardback