One Hundred Days: A Novel

From one of Australias most celebrated authors comes a powerful mother-daughter drama that explores the fault lines between love and control, pairing the claustrophobic intensity of Room and My Year of Rest and Relaxation with the youthful angst of Freshwater. Sixteen and pregnant, Karuna finds herself trapped in her mothers Melbourne public housing apartment for one hundred days awaiting the birth of her childand her mothers next move in a shocking power struggle over who will raise the baby. To fill the seemingly endless hours of her imprisonment, she writes to her unborn child, determined that her baby will know the truth, no matter what happens. Karunas pregnancy is the result of a heady act of independence, lust, and defiance that happened in a moment of freedom from her overprotective mother. In reaction to her daughters recklessness, Karunas mother locks her inside their apartment to her to make sure she cant get into any more trouble. While postpartum confinement is a tradition in many cultures, is Karunas an act of loveor emotional abuse? As the birth approaches, Karuna and her mother repeatedly trip the fault lines between love and control. And somehow, despite their battles, Karuna recognizes her mothers love in even the strangest of behaviors. At times tense and unnerving, One Hundred Days illuminates the pain, confusion, and thrill of growing up and the overwhelming desire of adults to protect the children they