One Hundred Days

£11.99

One Hundred Days

A Novel

Fiction: general and literary Narrative theme: Coming of age Narrative theme: Interior life Children’s / Teenage fiction: General, modern and contemporary fiction Children’s / Teenage fiction: Traditional stories Children’s / Teenage personal and social topics: First / new experiences and growing up / coming of age

Author: Alice Pung

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Language: English

Published by: HarperVia

Published on: 17th October 2023

Format: LCP-protected ePub

Size: 256 pages

ISBN: 9780063313026


From one of Australia's most celebrated authors comes a powerful mother-daughter drama that explores the fault lines between love and control, pairing the claustrophobic intensity of Room and My Year of Rest and Relaxation with the youthful angst of Freshwater.

Sixteen and pregnant, Karuna finds herself trapped in her mother's Melbourne public housing apartment for one hundred days awaiting the birth of her child—and her mother's next move in a shocking power struggle over who will raise the baby. To fill the seemingly endless hours of her imprisonment, she writes to her unborn child, determined that her baby will know the truth, no matter what happens.

Karuna's pregnancy is the result of a heady act of independence, lust, and defiance that happened in a moment of freedom from her overprotective mother. In reaction to her daughter's recklessness, Karuna's mother locks her inside their apartment to make sure she can't get into any more trouble. While postpartum confinement is a tradition in many cultures, is Karuna's an act of love or emotional abuse?

As the birth approaches, Karuna and her mother repeatedly trip the fault lines between love and control. And somehow, despite their battles, Karuna recognizes her mother's love in even the strangest of behaviors.

At times tense and unnerving, One Hundred Days illuminates the pain, confusion, and thrill of growing up and the overwhelming desire of adults to protect the children they love.

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