ANOTHER PLACE

Troubled teen relationships weave around each other in this British import.

Claudette lives in a dying seaside town, dotted with boarded-up shops and once-grand houses turned to dilapidated squats. The white girl has just been released from inpatient psychiatric care after a bipolar episode at school, and her doctor has told her to come up with “small goals you can easily achieve, and a large goal to work towards.” Her goal is to “find Sarah Banks,” a local girl with a troubled past who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The story meanders, touching on Claudette’s loving but contentious relationship with her father’s girlfriend, an unlikely friendship with the neighborhood crank, and an assortment of boys ranging from wholesome to despicable. Numerous flashbacks show more of Claudette’s history with the missing girl, but these never quite achieve an emotional urgency. Far more compelling is Claudette’s exploration of and recovery from mental illness, set against the bleak landscape of her hometown, which is also when the most beautiful writing shines through. The time spent on less-compelling side characters and plot threads detracts from these moments, making for an uneven reading experience.

This ambitious novel plods at times and pirouettes at others, like the angst-y readers who are the most likely to enjoy it.