THE OTHER SIDE OF BEAUTIFUL by Kim Lock $29.99

Lost & Found meets The Rosie Project in a stunning break-out novel where a vulnerable misfit is forced to re-engage with the world, despite her best efforts. Meet Mercy Blain, whose house has just burnt down. Unfortunately for Mercy, this goes beyond the disaster it would be for most people: she hasn't been outside that house for two years now. Flung out into the world she's been studiously ignoring, Mercy goes to the only place she can. Her not-quite-ex-husband Eugene's house. But it turns out she can't stay there, either. And so begins Mercy's unwilling journey. After the chance purchase of a cult classic campervan (read tiny, old and smelly), with the company of her sausage dog, Wasabi, and a mysterious box of cremated remains, Mercy heads north from Adelaide to Darwin. On the road, through badly timed breakdowns, gregarious troupes of grey nomads, and run-ins with a rogue adversary, Mercy's carefully constructed walls start crumbling. But what was Mercy hiding from in her house? And why is Eugene desperate to have her back in the city? They say you can't run forever... Exquisite, tender and wry, this is a break-out novel about facing anxiety and embracing life from an extraordinary new talent. "The Other Side of Beautiful is the story of Mercy Blain and her ‘break through’ from a nervous breakdown. Although Kim Lock leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind as to how difficult it is to cope in such a situation, she also demonstrates the joy in being able to re-engage in life. Whilst the reader is taken on a journey from Adelaide to Darwin with Mercy and her sausage dog, Wasabi, the author also cleverly takes the reader on the journey from Mercy’s ‘break down’ to her ‘break through’." Heather, Dymocks Albury