Why a Booktrail?
1996, 2000s: Paths cross in the most unexpected of ways
The Source
What you need to know before your trail
1996. Essex. Thirteen-year-old schoolgirl Carly lives in a disenfranchised town dominated by a military base, struggling to care for her baby sister while her mum sleeps off another binge. When her squaddie brother brings food and treats, and offers an exclusive invitation to army parties, things start to look a little less bleak…
2006. London. Junior TV newsroom journalist Marie has spent six months exposing a gang of sex traffickers, but everything is derailed when New Scotland Yard announces the re-opening of Operation Andromeda, the notorious investigation into allegations of sex abuse at an army base a decade earlier…
As the lives of these two characters intertwine around a single, defining event, a series of utterly chilling experiences is revealed, sparking a nail-biting race to find the truth … and justice.
Locations
Reset- England - Essex
- A: Military barracks
- England - London
- B: M25
- C: TV news station
- D: New Scotland Yard
Travel Guide
The true landscape here is institutional abuse
Due to the nature of the storyline – sexual abuse at a military barracks – the town and military base are fictional. There is one on the map for illustration purposes but this has no relation to either the base or the events in the book. The Source is a fictional story after all.
The setting of the military base is key but the locations of Essex and London are only loosely described. The author used to work for CNN so has a journalistic and investigative background which you can see from the writing
“..to the victims, I have visualised your pain, I have imagined your suffering. It still feels wrong that I have appropriated your experience when I should have tried to do something more material about it. But when the facts themselves are under attack, the medium of fiction is a powerful tool. I hope you can see it is all in pursuit of the truth. And I hope I have done it justice”
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Source
Destination/location: London, Essex Author/guide: Sarah Sultoon Departure Time: 1996, 2000s
Back to ResultsWhere Next?
