“Gone Away Girl” by Juliette Caron

“Good girls go to heaven, but bad girls go everywhere,” states the legendary quote by Helen Gurley Brown. I absolutely loved how Juliette Caron proved the opposite in her book “Gone Away Girl”.

Chloe is seventeen, and she is a good girl. She makes a tough choice not every “bad” girl gathers enough courage to make. Sensing that leaving things as they are is more dangerous than taking a reckless step, Chloe runs away from home.

I liked that Chloe is unlike those runaways who in movies and tv series are depicted as victims of circumstances and who inevitably end up in some gruesome situations. I won’t say more to avoid spoilers. Moreover, Chloe doesn’t just run away without any plan whatsoever. She has a plan, and although not everything goes according to it, it still helps her to stay on the right track.

I found it fascinating how resourceful a person can be when determined not to give up on their fundamental principles but forced to adapt to circumstances that are mainly out of their control. Chloe is determined to make her dreams about a better life come true, and despite being repeatedly let down by life, she moves on steadily to her goals.

I also liked the conclusion the author unobtrusively leads readers to. The most important thing in anyone’s life is people. The right people who are ready to support you. Someone might never meet such people, while others are lucky and in addition to their own efforts, they get help from those who believe in them and are there for them.

I struggled a little with a “high school scene”, but it is strictly my subjective perception. I guess it’s due to my own experience, I’m not drawn to descriptions of school life. It’s not because my school years were awful. I simply was too withdrawn and into my own world, so now, more than two decades after graduating, I’m even less able to feel excited about school dynamics.

“Gone Away Girl” by Juliette Caron is a wonderful story that inspires to believe in yourself and your dreams.