Everyone is worried about Jamie, especially his half-sister Etta. He used to be full of energy and life, but lately is lethargic and weak, as if life is leaking out of him. The doctors can’t figure out why and their mum is about to take him to a specialist when he says,

“I think I can see a ghost”

Etta, mum and her stepdad Geoff turn to see where Jamie is looking. Sure enough, a girl is sitting in their kitchen in a beautiful dress from long ago. She is no ghost, but a young woman called Constance Williston from the year of 1869. The dress she is wearing is her wedding dress, even though she is not quite 17. Etta and her family are dumbstruck, as is the strange visitor.

With all that is going on in their household, Etta is given Constance to look after as Jamie is whisked off to the specialist. Constance leaps from fright to awe as she experiences 2019. Jeans, cars and the fact that Etta organised the school assembly fascinates her, even if she flinches at first at Etta’s strong language.

Soon it is Etta’s turn to feel out of place as both girls are flung back to 1869 to Constance’s life of a cold and calculating family and even worse fiance. Etta must bite her tongue at the tsunami of misogyny that is her new friend’s life.

What they do have in common is the conundrum they are facing. Why are they jumping back and forth to different lives, centuries and continents? What does the painting Constance was posing for have to do with it, and most important of all, why is it killing Etta’s little brother?

Both girls are soon swirling with turmoil as any choices to be made will inflict hurt or worse on those they love. Torn between these choices, they work together to solve the mysteries that confront them, hoping with all they have that this will solve everything. But more powerful people have other plans in store for them.

Faraway girl is a swirl of contrasts, written in a limited third person omniscient point of view. This allows the reader into the heads of both Etta and Constance (in the same chapter) as they face a time and place that is foreign to each of them. Constance’s awe or fear is clear, at the same time Etta’s amazement or anger rises up.

Experiencing life in 1869 for a girl the same age, Etta sees for herself the severe restrictions Constance must live under. Constance in turn sees how a 17 yr old girl in 2019 lives, speaks and behaves – strong-minded, clever and accomplished. Both give the other courage and respect, binding them in their fate.

Underneath this ingenious time-travel tale is the constant malice of a twisted curse that has all but taken the life of a young boy generations into the future.

Fleur Beale has given readers yet another gripping read. The threads of malice, mystery, historical and present day are well written, weaving into a plot-driven, page turning novel for young adults.

Author – Fleur Beale

Age 13+ (Strong Language)

(2022, Penguin Random House NZ, New Zealand Author, Betrayal, Blended Family, Misogyny, Conflict, Courage, 1869, Victorian England, Engaged, Family, Friendship, Control, Fear, Money, Greed, Secret, Historical, Mystery, Time Travel, Painting, Clues, 2019, Illness, Fading)