Anywhere's Better Than Here by Zöe Venditozzi

Shortlisted for the 2010 Dundee International Book Prize, Anywhere’s Better Than Here is the story of Laurie, whose life has met a dead end at just twenty four. Working in a call centre and living in a grotty flat with her gaming-obsessed, unemployed boyfriend Ed, Laurie is unfulfilled and jaded. In an effort to inject some excitement into her life she starts to make compulsive decisions, leaving her old life in limbo as she embarks on a relationship with enigmatic older man Gerry.

Venditozzi creates a flawed and thoroughly believable character in Laurie - she’s selfish, lazy, far from a feminist role model, yet identifiable as a young woman who doesn’t know what she wants, only that it isn’t what she’s got. The novel skilfully side steps the clichés of the genre - Ed isn’t a brute, he’s genuinely trying to make something of himself; Gerry isn’t the answer to Laurie’s problems, merely an escape, and no fiesty friend appears to sort her life out.

Significantly Laurie is the lone character in the novel whose mother doesn’t appear to help her child through a difficult, if self-inflicted, situation. Despite claiming a distant relationship with her mother it is evident Laurie is lost without a guiding influence - seeking her mother in the faces of strangers in moments of distress. There is an indication in Laurie’s behaviour that her bereavement has led to depression but its subtly handled and never outrightly addressed.

Anywhere’s Better Than Here is a gripping read despite containing little action. Venditozzi’s skill lies in her precise depiction of the drudgery of day to day life in this sad narrative of a young woman with everything ahead of her but no drive to get it.