Told from Kate’s viewpoint, Skylarking is as startling as it is heart warming. It cracks open the unfathomable tensions and emotional games that can play out between erstwhile best friends and in doing so, lifts the curtain on a tragic historical event.
Kate Mildenhall’s debut historical fiction, Skylarking explores what happened between Kate and Harriet over their growing years through the recollections of Kate who, like any young girl, is buffeted by emotions and jealousies. We see, feel and consider for ourselves what might have precipitated that irreversible tragedy.
Kate and Harriet are best friends. They share chores, adventures, secrets – everything life on a remote patch of coast can offer. But the dynamics of their previously unshakable bond change when McPhail, a fisherman, settles near their close-knit lighthouse community. As the girls adapt to maturing bodies and struggle with unfamiliar emotions, their friendship becomes strained.
If you dare to join Kate on this intimate journey into her darkest thoughts and deepest emotions, you won’t regret it.
Title: Skylarking
Author: Kate Mildenhall
Publisher: Black Inc. $24.99 RRP
Publication Date: 2004, re released August 2013
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781863958301
For ages: 13+
Type: Young Adult Fiction
