In bloom by Liz Allan

There are four girls, all daughters of single mums, in a back-water town, desperate to escape the dead-end future everyone predicts for them; they are the losers, the girls who sit at the back of the class, the group that teachers have given up on. But their music teacher Mr P is different; he cares. He thinks they can make it in the Battle of the Bands. They have talent, they have a future, their band ‘The Bastards’ is going to make it, just like their idol Kurt Cobain.

They are four band members, until they are only three. Lily detaches herself, and calls the others dumb. The three girls blame Lily’s mother’s mean new boyfriend, Buddy. But, strangely, bizarrely, it is Mr P, the beloved music teacher, that Lily accuses of sexual assault. How could that be?

Liz Allan employs the plural narrative voice for the three unnamed girls. Everything is recounted as  ‘we’. Their lives are exactly the same, they spend all their time together in each other’s homes, and they feel safe, able to face any danger as long as they stay together. But when all their hopes come crashing down, they spiral into a path of self-destruction.

In bloom is about sexual abuse. People recognise the threat of abuse in Lily’s home, and in the thuggish gangs of the neighbourhood, but nobody ever suspects the charmer that everybody likes, the teacher that encourages the dreams of his students. But when the finger is pointed at him, the tide of community opinion turns against him; he is after all the outsider, the German Kraut. Parents want to know that their child is safe.

In bloom is an astounding debut novel, exploring themes of class, prejudice, sexual abuse, and teenage identity. If there was a music track to accompany it, it would be the grunge band Nirvana. The teenagers are full of rage and defiance; united they can face down anyone. But in the end, each has to become their own person, and face the secret they never wanted to countenance.

Liz Allan has crafted an engaging fast-paced novel, which takes you into the world of the teenage rebels. It is a rampage of anger and confusion, as they try to work out the problem that suddenly confronts them: how to get their favourite teacher back, how to get their band on the road, how to make their dream come true. They are desperate to be heard, desperate to be something different. But in the end, it might mean becoming their individual selves.

I highly recommend this novel for its unique and highly original approach to tacking sensitive subjects, in an almost a detective-style plot that draws readers in.

Themes: Rebellion, Music, Bands, Sexual abuse, Class, Identity.

Helen Eddy