Broken

About this book

Skunk is an 11 year-old girl who lives a carefree life with her father, on a cul-de-sac in a very much middle-class neighborhood in Britain. At the beginning of the movie Skunk sees Rick, a young man living across the street, getting violently beaten up by yet another neighbor, Mr. Oswald. We later learn that one of Oswald's daughters, in order to save face, told her dad that Rick raped her, following which Oswalt in a rage pummels Rick. Skunk is unwittingly drawn into the neighbors' unfolding melodrama of violence, sex, and life-shattering illness. her home, neighborhood and school become treacherous environments where the happy certainties of childhood give way to fear-filled doubt. She is drawn into an ethereal chaos from which she may only return through the intense love of those closest to her.