Before she admits herself into hospital, she lived with a grimly dysfunctional and uncommunicative family of four, whose father was a co-owner of a company named Rider Group which receives a multimillion-dollar business contract.

Soon, however, her father's company begins being attacked by the press, who accuse him and his business partner of gross corruption, allegedly involving the Premier of the State.

The Premier continually denies having ever met the girl's father, but these accusations and negative media attention escalate over a period of months.

The girl returns home from school to discover the story, and finds her father has murdered Checkers with a carving knife.

Publishers Weekly noted: "This determinedly grim novel is less compelling than most of the Australian writer's previous books (Letters from the Inside), even though it shares their angry energy and capacity to shock.