Reader's Choice

Susan R. Sloan crafts a good tale about how people's attitudes have changed towards date rape, in her book Guilt by Association (Warner Books, £5.99 in UK). The year is 1962, Karen is engaged to be married, then she goes to a party, and is picked up by Robert Dryson, who rapes her. Nobody takes her seriously, until 30 years later when she sees her rapist running for the American presidency. I particularly liked the portrayal of the mother's character, who is so obsessed with the family's reputation that she claims her daughter had an accident rather than admit that she was raped.