The Wish House

With an already impressive body of work for young adults, Rees presents another compelling narrative, set in the more permissive mid 1970s but relevant to teenagers in any time: ‘first love, first sex, first death’.

On holiday in Wales, Richard encounters a bohemian family at the Wish House, and becomes involved not only with their teenage daughter Clio, but in different ways with the rest of her unconventional family.

Rees frames each chapter with a catalogue entry for artwork in an exhibition six years after the main action, which throws further light on the complex interaction between the characters. An absorbing coming-of-age-novel which sensitively examines the tumult of emotions and bewildering complexity of experiences encountered by adolescent boys.