Reviewed by Andrea Sisco

Sadie Jones debut novel “The Outcast” haunts me still, days after finishing it. The novel delivers a story of love, loss, and redemption as a result of a series of situations that couldn’t be helped and were no one’s fault really–but irrevocably changed lives.

It’s 1957 and 19-year-old Lewis Aldridge has just been released from prison. The crime was setting fire to a church. He heads to his family home simply because he has no where else to go. He’s met at the door by his stepmother, Alice, who cheerfully greets him. His father, Gilbert’s greeting is different. He demands Lewis drive with him to the church, to see that it has been ‘fixed.’ Lewis is silent. The stage is set; Lewis may have hoped for a new beginning, but already things are not looking good.

We view Lewis’ childhood as a flashback. His father recently returned from the war and while Lewis is happy that his father is home, he really doesn’t know him. The close relationship Lewis and his mother shared while Gilbert was gone, changes. During a picnic at the river, Elizabeth, Lewis’ mother, drowns–and suddenly everything changes for Lewis.

Gilbert remarries within a short period of time and neither Gilbert nor Alice, the new wife, can reach the steadily retreating Lewis. The people of the community avoid Lewis, and he continues to withdraw, his anti-social behavior increasing. Two sisters, Tasmin and Kit (daughters of Lewis’ boss Dicky Carmichael), are the only people who haven’t ostracized Lewis.

But there is a dreadful secret in the Carmichael house, and when Lewis discovers it, he feels powerless to change things. The question is simple: can the damaged Lewis help another damaged soul?

“The Outcast” will leave you breathless. The characters are rich, full-bodied and well-developed. The plot is startling in both its complexity and yet the ease of putting forth a story of abuse, neglect, guilt and love. “The Outcast” demands you look at life and ask yourself what are the consequences of the choices we make? Every reader will, I suspect, walk away from this stunning debut with a perspective somewhat different from the next person who reads it.

Armchair Interview says: Highly recommended.

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