‘Meet Clay Brown’ — A Review
A heroine who is stronger than she ever realized
Disclaimer: Please note I received a free ARC of this book from Reedsy Discovery in exchange for my honest review.
A heroine who is stronger than she ever realized, Clay Brown’s true spirit emerges when her life is touched by others who understand.
Clay Brown has managed to survive in a cruel and loveless world since the age of ten, when she lost her mother to complications of HIV. She is surrounded by addiction and has been raised to feel deeply ashamed about “the virus” she was born with.
She lives with her father, Jimmy, who has descended into a life of bitterness and self-destruction since her mother’s death. He continually takes his anger out on Clay with acts of abject cruelty, such as destroying her only remaining photos of her mother.
She attends a support group for young adults with HIV. When asked to tell a little about herself, she wonders what there is to say aside from her diagnosis. She privately reflects that “According to Jimmy, I didn’t need school because I was gonna die soon, just like my mother, so I dropped out.” That tells a reader all they need to know about Jimmy.
But her mother made her promise to take care of him and Clay dedicates herself to keeping that promise…
