If You Go

Susan Midalia’s Review 

When Esther, the novel’s main character and narrator, comes to consciousness with a tube stuck down her throat, she has no idea where she is or what has happened to her. Even more unsettling is the constant presence of a woman called Grace: is she a nurse? A captor? A killer? The story alternates between Esther’s troubling present and her increasingly disturbing memories of childhood (she is the daughter of a famous and neglectful mother), her marriage and divorce, and her guilt at her own inadequacies as the mother of two young children. As the past begins to collide with the present, the novel reveals the truth of Esther’s situation, and the unexpected connection between her and Grace.

Alice Robinson’s third novel is her most ambitious yet. It explores the familiar problems of contemporary domestic life – fractured marriages, the frustrations of motherhood and a woman’s search for a place to call home – and combines them with a highly unusual take on dystopian fiction. The result is an inventive, chilling story about the complex legacies of family and the possibility of recovery in a deeply damaged world.

If You Go creates an intriguing plot, layered with reflections about feminine identity, the corrosiveness of guilt and the value of kindness and forgiveness. Another thoughtful, emotionally engaging book from a talented Australian writer.

Publisher’s Review 

When Esther wakes with a breathing tube down her throat, she has no idea where she is or how she got there. In terrible physical condition, Esther is tended to by Grace, the only other person in the building.

In the half-consciousness of her recovery, Esther is desperate to get back to her young kids and grapples with the events of her life as they come flooding back: a childhood spent between warring parents; the demise of her marriage; the struggles she faced when her children were born.

Suspicious of Grace, Esther takes drastic action to escape. But there are certain facts about the reality of her situation - her place in time, her history and her life - that she will need to uncover first.

If You Go is a moving, captivating and unforgettable novel about hope and grief and family, which explores what we inherit and what we pass down.