Australia’s queen of the domestic thriller.
A bizarre abduction
A body of damning evidence
A world of betrayal
The Accusation
Out May 2019
Somebody is lying.
A bizarre abduction. A body of damning evidence. A world of betrayal.
A bizarre abduction. A body of damning evidence. A world of betrayal.
After eighteen-year-old Ellie Canning is found shivering and barely conscious on a country road, her bizarre story of kidnap and escape enthrals the nation. Who would do such a thing? And why?
Local drama teacher Suzannah Wells, once a minor celebrity, is new to town. Suddenly she’s in the spotlight again, accused of being the monster who drugged and bound a teenager in her basement. As stories about her past emerge, even those closest to her begin to doubt her innocence.
And Ellie? The media can’t get enough of her. She’s a girl-power icon, a social-media star. But is she telling the truth?
A powerful exploration of the fragility of trust and the loss of innocence, from the author of The Golden Child and The Mistake.
The way the book was structured really gave it an inventive feel … Highly recommended.
Radio New Zealand
The Accusation is Australian crime writing at its best, showcasing the great talent of Australian women writers out there today. It deserves all the hype! A brilliant book, very highly recommended.
But Books are Better blog
The Accusation will grip you from page one … Intelligent, suspenseful, and masterfully paced, with a killer twist in the tail, The Accusation is domestic noir at its best.
Better Reading
This satisfying novel perfectly captures our current world, saturated by social media, obsessed by beautiful victims and easily identified villains, and quick to judge and condemn … This is a gripping novel with plenty of twists, underpinned by acute observations about society.
Good Reading magazine
James brilliantly takes this historical true crime and updates it to the internet age.
Sydney Morning Herald
Both gripping and timely, An Accusation’s sharp narrative will demand your attention from page one. Wendy James spins a web of mystery that will leave you feeling upside down, in the very best way. Highly recommend!
authors of The Two Lila Bennetts
Why we love it: it’s a hot topic right now – teenage girls, bullying, and the perils of social media – a topic nailed by Aussie author Wendy James in her latest novel. The Golden Child is a disturbing yet funny look at the age-old problem of teenage girls and the very modern problem of cyber-bullying.
Book of the Week
James makes her thrilling mark in women’s fiction with this intense and chilling American debut, offering an in-depth look at motherhood and bullying. Cleverly told in alternating points of view and blog posts, this psychological genre bender will resonate on many levels. The plot is on par with the thought-provoking nature of Jodi Picoult’s works, and a combination of that and the rapt storytelling style of Liane Moriarty will leave readers finishing the last page wanting more.
The Golden Child by Wendy James is a next-level thriller that brims with dark surprises and unforgettable characters. Told with pitch-perfect pacing and unrelenting tension, James explores the darkest corners of the human heart in this bone-chilling must-read novel of the year. Clear your calendar – you’ll want to read this one straight through.
New York Times best selling author of The Weight of Silence and Not a Sound
The Golden Child is a gripping novel that transports the reader into the insidious world of cyber-bullying and poses confronting questions about parenting.
About Wendy James
Wendy James is the celebrated author of eight novels, including the bestselling The Mistake and the compelling The Golden Child, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Ned Kelly Award for crime. Her debut novel, Out of the Silence, won the 2006 Ned Kelly Award for first crime novel, and was shortlisted for the Nita May Dobbie award for women’s writing. Wendy has a PhD from the University of New England and works as an editor at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University. She lives in Newcastle with her husband and the youngest of her four children, and writes some of the sharpest and most topical domestic noir novels in the country.
Exciting update
The Golden Child is currently in series development after being optioned by FoX21 and Temple Hill Entertainment (Twilight, Fault in our Stars, Mr Mercedes)
