One night, when returning home by herself, Peach is raped. Bruised and broken, she isn’t quite sure who to speak to: her parents are busy with their new baby and she just doesn’t feel strong enough to tell anyone, especially her loving boyfriend Green.
She is scared – her attacker seems to be following her around. What to do? What to do? She has been through something so horrible and isn’t sure how to move on with her life. She decides to try to deal with the consequences all by herself.
Peach is a beautiful inventive novel. It’s one of those singular stories – a novel you thought you didn’t need but, that after reading it, sticks with you and makes you think. This is Glass’ first novel. It is incredible how in just under 100 pages, she managed to pack in so much feeling and tactfulness.
The characters are all one-of-a-kind, and what makes them even more unique is that Glass has them taking on the attributes of their names. Peach is round and juicy, Green is tree-like and Baby is a Jelly Baby. This is a truly creative take on characters.
The writing is also extremely powerful and is a major contributing factor to this tale packing such a punch. Despite the dark and scarring theme of Peach, the language is simple and playful. The contrast between theme and language make this moving story even more emotive.
Emma Glass is an exciting new voice in fiction. After reading the unique short but meaningful and thought-provoking Peach, I hope to read more of her work in the future!
–Naomi Minto
