Athens County, Ohio, USA. When Rachel Boucher and Jason de Klerk meet again – five years after high school – they immediately renew their friendship. But for Jason their friendship is just a stepping stone to something more – a romantic union that seems to have the blessing of the whole community. That is until Rachel becomes involved with Skye Riley. As Skye and Rachel grow ever closer, Jason's anger at the relationship boils over into violence, violence that turns the community on its head, setting old friends and neighbours against one another. But this is just a taste of things to come as, it turns out, Rachel is pregnant . . . "Weaving together the personal struggles of its characters with the earth-deep worries of a small town, Rachel's Blue deftly pulls readers into a close-knit community only to show how suffocating such a community can be. Mda's insights into the hopes and sufferings of human relationships, into the pains of truth-telling and into American culture are as poignant as ever." – Dr Melisa Klimaszewski