Review: Know My Place by Eve Ainsworth

Amy is moving to another new “placement”. That’s the term they use: “placement”, not home or family. This will be her sixth placement since her nan died seven years ago. She was six then. Her last placement, with the Gibsons, lasted three years. It started off well. Amy liked Mum Mary, and baking with her in the kitchen. But the experience taught Amy to be cautious. Don’t let your guard down or let yourself feel at home.

The narrative shifts between the past and present, from Amy’s previous placement to her recent move to the Dawson’s, with their minimalist décor and massive TV. It is an effective device, slowly revealing Amy’s story as we progress. It enables us to better understand the protagonist, where she finds herself today, and the sore twisty feeling that fills her stomach.

Know My Place has a dyslexia-friendly layout, typeface and paperstock, and has been edited to a reading age of eight, which makes it a more accessible reading experience. It is a gentle tale, told with nuance; the characters are not trolls and witches, princesses and fairies, but humans in all their complexities. Amy is kind, and she is angry and she is hurting. In a world where we all seek to belong, Eve Ainsworth’s novel is a wonderful book about finding your place.

Brigid O’Dea