The Girl She Was

‘She’d long ago stopped wondering whether anyone would find out what she’d done. It was in the past, and Layla didn’t dwell on the past.’

At the cafe in the small town of Glasswater Bay where she works after school, seventeen-year-old Layla enters into a volatile relationship with her married boss.

Twenty years later, she receives a message from her former boss’s wife.

As Layla relives the events from her youth that have shaped her present, her past starts to infiltrate her life in a way she can no longer ignore.

She’s run from her town, her friends and the memory of what she’s done. Now she must face them all.

The Girl She Was cover

“This novel has many strengths, none more so than the pitch-perfect dialogue and real suspense. Yet what lingers is that it is all so possible.”
 – Christopher Bantick, Melbourne Weekly Times

“Freeborn has written a realistic portrayal of the grooming and controlling nature one would expect from a relationship involving a teenager and much older person.”
 – Glam Adelaide

“Timely, painful and playful all at once, Freeborn’s book may be a challenging wake-up call to readers, and not just those who share Layla’s profile.”
 – Fiona Hardy, Readings

“A blisteringly good read.”
 – Theresa Smith

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Pantera Press
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