By Leigh Andrews

‘Breaking night’ is a term used to describe surviving the night on the streets in New York. Murray’s early family life was filled with fear and hunger, while watching her parents spend their welfare allowance on drugs, with very little money left over to buy food for the month. As a result of this harsh lifestyle, her sister, Lisa, takes a strong stance and does the best she can to give off a veneer of normalcy to the outside world. For Liz, on the other hand, things are very difficult as she knows her peers think she’s smelly, and the fact that she has lice puts everyone off of wanting to get to know her. This leads her to dread going to school, resulting in her dropping out - always intending to return ‘one day’. Her parents’ condition rapidly deteriorates, with her mom moving in with her lover, Brick, who she sees as a last chance to change her situation, as her father is completely addicted to his drug-oriented lifestyle. Lisa jumps at the chance to move out with her mother, leaving Liz and her sense of loyalty behind. As a result of this, Liz’s father retracts further into himself and Liz is eventually put into a group home. She hates the experience there and later moves in with Brick and the rest of her family – shortly after this, her father loses their apartment and is moved to a shelter.

Liz makes a few firm friendships, most of which she carries through into her later life. She shares her experiences so vividly that it feels as though the reader is right there with her, ranging from finding out her mother has AIDS to shoplifting food and sleeping on the subway. Things get very bad at home with her mother’s illness, and on discovering that Liz is hiding Sam, a homeless friend from school, in her room at night, Brick throws them out. Liz and Sam initially stay with Liz’s boyfriend at the time, Carlos. He leads them to discover how best to live the homeless life, sleeping in stairwells and at friends’ houses. Following a stint in motels and fancy diners as Carlos’ inheritance comes through, Liz and Sam are back on the streets again once they discover Carlos’ new high-flying life includes drugs.

Following much inner turmoil, Liz decides to enroll herself in an alternative high school while homeless – this is where the book brightens as she makes firm friendships, finds a part-time job, puts enough money together to rent an apartment with her sister, and eventually goes on to become a motivational speaker following her claim to fame in being accepted to study at Harvard. Murray has since founded a company called Manifest Living, which empowers adults to create lives that are most meaningful to them.

It’s a story of sadness and honesty. I found myself utterly immersed and Liz’s voice stayed with me long after the final word was read. Highly recommended.

Breaking Night is published by Random House Struik.