In this year’s international BookLife Prize ‘Towards the Vanishing Point’ has just been awarded the impressive overall score of 9.25 / 10.
(The BookLife Prize is Publishers Weekly’s annual prize for independently published books.)
Their assessment is shown below:
Plot: Petrie crafts a rich, suspenseful historical story that centers on the lives of two female friends. The author deftly explores the impact of emotional and physical abuse and the impact of war. 9/10
Prose: Towards the Vanishing Point features an even, polished, and descriptive prose style with dialogue, phrasings, and references that aptly capture the era. 9/10
Originality: The novel’s focus on the subtleties of an enduring female friendship is an evergreen concept. Petrie offers a compelling blend of genre elements, successfully staging a story of relationships and abusive power dynamics in a vividly realized setting. 9/10
Character/Execution: Readers will come to deeply know the primary characters, as they grow from children to adults. The story’s sinister yet nuanced antagonist injects chilling conflict and complexity into the well-researched, emotionally resonant narrative. 10/10
Jan Turk Petrie - author 