Kim Lock has a gift for writing emotions so that the reader can feel them. Mercy’s fear and overwhelming anxiety were palpable throughout The Other Side of Beautiful and I found myself both identifying and empathising with her.

Lock perfectly captured the beauty and isolation of travelling across the Australian outback and the unavoidable (and righteous) fear Mercy often felt as a solo female traveller. I may not have driven from Adelaide to Darwin, but having driven solo from Hedland to Karijini National Park (and back), I had many of the same thoughts as Mercy, particularly when she had to park one night alone in a remote rest stop. From running through the famous serial killers preying on backpackers, to considering the dangers of kangaroos and stray cattle, and then trying not to think about what would happen if I had car trouble in an area with no mobile coverage, it can easily turn terrifying. And for me, that was just a day trip! I’m not sure I’d be capable of tackling Adelaide to Darwin on my own. Plus, road trains are no joke – I can’t imagine coping with one of them passing me. The absolute helplessness of being surrounded by red dirt and bush, knowing the next closest town is hundreds of kilometres away, and just hoping that everything goes to plan is a vivid reality in The Other Side of Beautiful.

A direct counterpart to the intense fear and anxiety, Andrew and the grey nomads lighten the story, bringing a sense of normalcy to Mercy’s crazy idea to just drive. I enjoyed the evolution of Mercy’s ability to interact and associate with first Andrew and then Burt and the other grey nomads as she distanced herself from Adelaide and her history. I found Mercy’s struggle with guilt and anxiety to be honest and relatable;