Elsie Fitzpatrick is 81 years old; she lives on Kenny Lane; “…a peculiar little cobbled street on the periphery of central Melbourne”. She wasn’t always Elsie Fitzpatrick: in 1959 at the age of 15 she was Mabel Waller, the youngest Australian ever to be convicted of murder. She became known world wide as “Mad Mabel”. Elsie tends her beautiful rose garden and keeps her distance from her neighbours, although “enfant terrible” Persephone, aged 7, who lives next door with her mother, Roxanne, is determined to be Elsie’s friend. Elsie already has a friend, Daphne, who is the only one she wants or needs.
Elsie’s peaceful existence is shattered when something happens which draws attention to her true identity and the stories, real and imagined, about her past begin to surface. Reporters begin hounding her wanting what they hope will be all the gory details, until she reaches the point where she feels she has no choice but to trust two podcasters with the story of her life.
This is a brilliant book, written as only Sally Hepworth can write. Elsie speaks with raw honesty which makes this page turner impossible to put down. I’ve never read a Sally Hepworth book I didn’t like and this is one of her very best.
Published by Pan Macmillan
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