I recommend this lovely book written by Lucy Christopher, to all those readers who'd enjoy a well-written, forbidden and beautifully tragic love story. It speaks of the kind of love that's socially unacceptable; yet it doesn't fail to blossom between two individuals amidst the red sand dunes, scrubby terrain and scorching heat of the Australian outback. Tall, blonde and blue eyed Ty McFarlane kidnaps sixteen year old british Gemma Toombs at Bangkok Airport and takes her all the way to his homeland (Australia). She wakes up in a house located in the middle of nowhere with only the most basic facilities. She attempts to escape from him a couple of times and even tries to commit suicide once, only to be stopped forcefully...but continues to have hope that she'll one day be rescued. She learns to cope with the unbearable heat of the desert, all the while keeping a distance from her seemingly 'evil' abductor whom she once found so attractive. He refuses to believe that he did the wrong thing bringing her there, saying that he'd only just saved her from the empty, purposeless life of the city and brought her to a place full of spirit and meaning, where the stars at night show you the way and the entire place sings out secrets of the Universe. As time passes, she gradually begins to see him in a different and more positive light. His creative style of artistic expression by painting himself with colours from his natural surroundings, the tearful moaning in his sleep that seemed to come from deep within his soul, the hurt visibly etched in his features whenever he speaks of his neglected childhood and of parents who never cared...touches her deeply. She opens herself up to his magical world where there aren't any unnecessary restrictions and where each and every thing around them has its own importance, living or not. Before she can return his love, she gets bitten by a Death Adder, forcing him to make the difficult decision of returning her to the city to receive urgent medical attention. Meanwhile, he turns himself in.
Back in the city, she writes Ty a letter (the entire book) as a means of controlling the overwhelming emotion she feels for him; this being a suggestion from her psychiatrist who accuses Gemma of suffering from Stockholm Syndrome. She cries as she types, asking him to forgive her for accusing him as being guilty during the courtroom trial and for being responsible as to having him sentenced to several years in prison. She hopes that he'll go back to the outback after being released and grow properly into the light this time, never having to go to such dangerous extremes to find the love he has always desired.
