"When they first meet, Nell is a lonely kid with rich parents who give her their credit card details but not much else. She is resigned to being friendless until she meets Eve, a new girl with a flaky single mum. The two are instant allies, devoted to each other, but mean girls soon begin to circle. There are rumours Eve is a lez. Sensing social disaster, Nell cuts Eve loose to save herself."
"But when we meet Eve again at university, we see her coming back to life, making new friends (the scene-stealing Marcus and Tae) and beginning to embrace her sexuality. She Googles how to look even gayer before going to class and, on her first outing to a gay bar, asks if it's acceptable to buy another woman a drink, or patriarchal. Gray beautifully depicts Eve's discovery of her new queer identity, showing how vital and exciting it can be to find a community."
Nell and Eve meet at age 12 at a girls' school in Sydney and form a devoted friendship that fractures under social pressure and rumours. Nell abandons Eve to protect her social standing. Eve drifts into isolation then revives at university, finding friends and embracing a queer identity and community. The narrative shifts between the 00s and the present, showing moments from high school to early parenthood. Nell and Eve co-parent a young daughter, but Nell is mysteriously absent in the present, raising questions about betrayal, choices, and potential reconciliation.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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