The Vale Girl
McDonald, Nelika

RRP
A$19.99

If you leave no trace, nobody could say later whether you were even there at all.

Fifteen-year-old Sarah Vale has gone missing in the small town of Banville. She's the daughter of the town prostitute so no one seems particularly concerned.

No one cares except Tommy Johns, who loves Sarah Vale with all the unadulterated, tentative passion of a teenage boy. He galvanises the town's policeman Sergeant Henson and, together, they turn the town inside out, searching for the lost girl.

A delicate and layered exploration of secrets and lies, forgotten children and absent parents, and the long shadows of the past.

An extraordinary debut from a talented new writer.

Author Information

Nelika McDonald was born in Brisbane in 1983. After finishing a Bachelor of Arts from QUT, she spent her twenties studying, travelling and working in various occupations. She has been a media reader; a museum staff member; and a sales assistant in a pet shop, a jewellery shop, a clothes shop and a tea shop.

After living in London for a few years, Nelika and her husband returned to Australia and settled in Melbourne, where Nelika finished a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing from RMIT. She now lives in Brisbane.