Author(s): M. J. Hyland

Fiction

HOW THE LIGHT GETS IN is a cleverly observed, complex story of a girl on the verge of adulthood, whose world--like Holden Caulfield’s before her--is full of mixed messages. Louise Connor, a precocious and unhappy Australian 16-year-old, is offered a place as an exchange student in America. But when Lou’s intense need for acceptance clashes with her host family’s pursuit of suburban perfection, things begin to deteriorate. How the Light Gets In mesmerizes with black humour and its highly charged portrait of adolescence.