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Lola in the Mirror

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

"Unpredictable, fantastic. . . . It takes a charged narrative, like Dickens achieves, and as Dalton does too, to reach the heart and the brain. . . . To tell you more would spoil this complicated and surprising story. You should read it."—Sydney Morning Herald

Bighearted, gritty, magical and moving, an irresistible novel from the #1 internationally bestselling author of Boy Swallows Universe and All Our Shimmering Skies.

A girl and her mother have been on the run for sixteen years, from the monster they left in their kitchen with a knife in his throat and the police who want to make them pay for his death. Home is now a van with four flat tires in a junkyard by the edge of the Brisbane River.

The girl has no name, because names are dangerous when you're on the run. But she has a dream. A vision of a life as an artist. A life outside the grip of the Brisbane underworld. A life of love with the boy who's waiting for her on the bridge above the deadly river. And once her mother can no longer protect her, there's only one person who can help make her dreams come true. That person is Lola. But she has to find her first.

Internationally bestselling author Trent Dalton delivers a big, moving, darkly funny, violent, heartbreaking and beautiful novel of love and fate, life and death, and all the things we see when we look in the mirror: all our past, all our present, and all our possible futures.


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    • Library Journal

      April 18, 2025

      Set in the back streets of hard-scrabble, dangerously unpredictable Brisbane, Dalton's (Boy Swallows Universe) harrowing latest tells the story of a nameless girl who has spent the past 16 years on the run with their mother. Having fled the girl's violently abusive father, the mother and daughter live in an orange 1987 Toyota HiAce van marooned in a junkyard. There, they balance evasion with survival. When a tragic accident takes the girl's mother from her, she enters the orbit of a shady seafood shop owner named Flora Box and begins selling drugs. As the girl seeks a better life, she is haunted by the image of Lola, a mysterious figure who may be the only one who can help her break out of this work and follow her dreams. Australian actor Victoria Graves narrates, offering a raw, emotional performance that communicates the weight of the protagonist's hopes and struggles. Graves's intimate narration reflects the grittily poetic tone of Dalton's text, which sensitively explores the girl's traumatic past while offering a glimmer of hope for her future. VERDICT Despite the grim violence, Dalton's story of addiction, tragedy, and found family resonates with tenderness and empathy. A thorny but sweet coming-of-age tale for fans of Sofie Laguna's The Choke.--Susan McClellan

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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  • English

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