My Name Is Venus Black — Heather Lloyd

In this riveting, heartfelt debut, a young woman assumes a new name to escape her dark past and find the redemption she desperately seeks.

Venus Black is a straitlaced A student fascinated by the study of astronomy -- until the night she commits a shocking crime that tears her family apart and ignites a media firestorm. Venus refuses to talk about what happened or why, except to blame her mother. Adding to the mystery, Venus's developmentally challenged younger brother, Leo, goes missing.

More than five years later, Venus is released from prison with a suitcase of used clothes, a fake identity, and a determination to escape her painful past. Estranged from her mother, and with her beloved brother still missing, she sets out to make a fresh start in Seattle, skittish and alone. But as new people enter her orbit -- including a romantic interest and a young girl who seems like a mirror image of her former lost self -- old wounds resurface, and Venus realizes that she can't find a future while she's running from her past.

In this gripping story, debut novelist Heather Lloyd brilliantly captures ordinary lives thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Told through a constellation of captivating voices, MY NAME IS VENUS BLACK explores the fluidity of right and wrong, the pain of betrayal, and the meaning of love and family.