Please Fear Me

'A fierce debut' —Melanie Finn, author of The Hare

Sixteen-year-old Smidge is on the run, burdened with a shameful secret. Together with her fellow runaway, a performance artist called Violet, she travels through the underbelly of America, desperately searching for a way to rise above her past. 

When they meet a travelling circus filled with misfits and drifters, they think they might have found home. But as Violet is drawn under the influence of its sinister ringleader, Smidge learns that belonging comes with a price.

Forced to choose between her past and present, Smidge must confront the shame that has shaped her, and return to face her mother, before it is too late.

Brazen, tender and painfully raw, Please Fear Me is a biting exploration of complex family ties, addiction and survival.