CRUSHED

Phoebe is many things, but she is not in control. As she stands on Pulteney Bridge, trying to cover her face with her hair so she won't be recognised, her tights are ripped from toe to thigh, and she has lost a shoe. It is five or ten minutes later that she hears the commotion. She runs down the road until she sees mangled metal and blood running down the walls. Phoebe believes this is of her making - murder she thought. Now she must not let her thoughts unravel because of they do there is no telling who might be caught in the crossfire and Phoebe will have to live with the consequences. Kate Hamer skilfully recasts Shakespeare's witches as her three teenage leads in a novel that is as much about family dysfunction, burgeoning sexuality and abuse of power as it is about teenage mysticism. Phoebe believes herself to be as powerful as one of the witches in Macbeth as she entices her friends into ever more dangerous territory. The novel makes good use of its Bath setting. 395pp in large softback with fairly large print.