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A review by reading_on_the_road
The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantyne
4.0
Daniel Hunter, the adult protagonist, is a man who despite a successful career still carries the scars of his unstable early years, and in some ways has been unable to move beyond them in his personal life - his relationships are short-lived and superficial. He is acutely aware that his life could easily have turned out very differently.
As a lawyer who works largely with child defendants, he is drawn into the case and the life of Sebastian, who has been accused of murdering a younger boy. Sebastian's home situation - a weak mother and a violent, domineering father - resonate with him and he comes to identify with the boy despite doubts as to his innocence. While the case is ongoing his adoptive mother, who he has long been estranged from, dies, and he reflects on his relationship with her and with his birth mother. With an adult understanding of the events of his childhood, rather than that of an emotionally volatile and frightened child, he is able to accept his past for what it was. The book ends with a more emotionally mature Daniel finally moving forward and beginning a new deeper relationship with a colleague who is his equal.
As a lawyer who works largely with child defendants, he is drawn into the case and the life of Sebastian, who has been accused of murdering a younger boy. Sebastian's home situation - a weak mother and a violent, domineering father - resonate with him and he comes to identify with the boy despite doubts as to his innocence. While the case is ongoing his adoptive mother, who he has long been estranged from, dies, and he reflects on his relationship with her and with his birth mother. With an adult understanding of the events of his childhood, rather than that of an emotionally volatile and frightened child, he is able to accept his past for what it was. The book ends with a more emotionally mature Daniel finally moving forward and beginning a new deeper relationship with a colleague who is his equal.