Shelf Indulgence Book Club

  What was the inspiration for your Whitney Awards finalist novel? Watching the Elizabeth Smart autobiography I was saddened by how often she had to try to explain why she didn’t try to escape “sooner”. It reminded me of how hard it is to explain to people the mental processes involved in leaving an abusive situation. So, the idea came to me that if a reader could actually experience that “mind prison” that they might be able to see why it isn’t so easy to “just leave” like victims of abuse are so often counseled.  What was the tipping point that turned this novel from “just an idea” to a project you HAD to complete? I had recently become fascinated with the idea of the fake perfection of YouTube family videos after my young daughter had become invested in a few channels. I was a newly single mom of four kids and my daughter wanted to know why these people on line had seemingly perfect lives when we had been through the struggle of divorce. I tried to explain that the YouTube families

About the book:   Adopted by her controlling foster mother at the age of eight, twenty-year-old Tara has seen little of the outside world. Lonely, punished for the slightest offense, her only distraction comes from watching the Feely family’s online videos. They’re an affectionate vlogging quintet and an internet sensation. Most important, they are Tara’s mental refuge. Then the opportunity arises for them to be something more. When Tara accepts an internship with the close-knit clan, they’re her escape. Daring to run away, and defying Mother’s rules, Tara is welcomed into the loving fold. But the more Tara gets to know them, the more she realizes that not everything is as it seems. As secrets slowly surface, the image of the perfect family begins to crack. For Tara, it’s another trap. To claim a life of her own, she’ll need a new escape plan. Because as the show’s popularity explodes, reaching even more fascinated viewers, Tara can’t shake the feeling that Mother is among their ranks.