St. Martin's, Sep 2004, 9.95, 160 pp.
Nineteen year old Charlene Boher has been in prison for two years for murder. Everyone seems to need to know whether she feels any remorse for killing, but Charlene feels nothing inside except the loneliness that has eaten at her for most of her life. With so much time, she decides to write an autobiography to explain why she feels no regret and therefore must be inhuman.
Reflecting back to her lonely preadolescence Charlene remembers her room was her sunny castle until school when she met Vanessa, but that friendship ended when Vanessa's family moved; her room once again became the castle of Charlene the hermit. The fights between her parents when she was seven consequently led to the destruction of her family. Charlene feels all alone until as a teen she met Sarah, who shockingly befriended her. Four years later, they meet Maxime leading to an argument and homicide.
The review of this Book prepared by Harriet Klausner