Split

Sixteen year old Jace Witherspoon has been kicked out of the house by his abusive father.  He gets in his car and drives across country from Chicago to Albuquerque, New Mexico where his older brother Christian fled five years earlier. However, two abused siblings do not make the best roommates, and they must work through several emotional issues, in addition to dealing with fear for their mother's safety.  They are helped by Christian's girlfriend, Mirriam, a teacher; and Dakota, a clerk in the bookstore where Jace finds a job.  This book is an interesting character study of family members in an abusive situation. It also shows that domestic violence happens to families at all levels of society--the father is a judge--and the family is probably upper middle class. The author is Swati Avasthi, who has experience working in a domestic abuse shelter, and she brings an understanding of the difficult questions related to that topic to this book.  Ultimately it is a story of personal growth, of overcoming bitterness and fear, and moving ahead in life. This is the author's first novel, watch for more.