What I Would Do to You

A compulsively readable debut novel for those who could not put down Dirt Town or Before You Knew My Name.

In a near-future Australia, the death penalty is back. But if the victim’s family wants the perpetrator to die, they have to do it themselves. Twenty-four hours alone in a room with the condemned. No cameras. No microphones. Just whatever punishment they decide befits the crime.

Ten-year-old Lucy was murdered in bushland adjoining her family farm. Through counselling sessions with their court-appointed psychologist we learn the stories of her family members: Lucy’s two mothers – Stella and Matisse, her much older brother and her bookish teenage sister, who is too young to participate in the execution, but who has plans of her own . . .

Tensions build as the family discover secrets about each other that threaten to drive them further apart than grief already has. As the execution date nears, already-struggling Stella remains adamant that she must carry out the punishment. But it becomes clear that if she steps into that room, the family may lose her too.

What would you do?