As an only child, embarrassed by her dowdy parents and missing a playmate, she easily adopts the chaotic Trenthams as her new family. Lily’s character is much like this, following the action from a remove, and never fully involved in it. She is the most complex of all the novel’s characters, and her journey through adolescence is told with impressive intensity, from her brazen flirtation with boys to her violent nightmares and bubbling angerĮmily Bitto spoke in interview about how her own solitary childhood influenced her writing from the perspective of an outsider she said she preferred the company of adults and enjoyed the anonymity of bigger families. Her openly-voiced resentment towards her parents is a refreshing edge to Bitto’s convivial bohemian narrative. where a lower class of people congregate”.Įva’s sovereign streak and an Arya Stark tomboyishness and disregard for authority gives The Strays its gripping tension and vitality. Dismissing the warnings from a teacher, she heads to the Surrey Dive for her birthday, “a dangerous place. Reacting badly to her mother’s demands, she sets out on her own adventure. With a maturity born from the independence of her youth, Eva is self-assured, daring and reckless. Middle child Eva struggles with demons too, though her teenage rebellion is more compelling to read. Negligence carves long-lasting emotional scars and a strong antipathy takes hold of her, She is left forgotten and alone – in one memorable scene locked outdoors for hours without anyone noticing. Heloise, the “baby” of the family, suffers visibly. Indeed, the responsibility parents bear for their offspring’s future is a central theme of The Strays. As Maria, one of her closest friends, remarks about her misplaced responsibilities: “You ignore your children.

Caught up in their own activities, painting in the studio or arranging exhibitions, they aren’t particularly likeable Evan’s wealthy wife Helena has an awkward relationship with her daughters. And though she grows “accustomed to the conversations of men”, observing their eccentricities and desires, they play second fiddle to the complex friendship she develops with the Trentham girls.Bitto’s older characters appear distant by comparison, hovering on the periphery of the children’s experiences. She drifts around amid the free-flowing alcohol of spontaneous parties, and blushes when she sees the occasional nude body. The lack of rules and the pleasurable freedoms of this new world fascinate Lily, who is also hungry for knowledge.

The strays bitto