The Boy Under the Table

A story of immense power and compassion—one that will move all who read it with its harrowing glimpse into the real world behind the headlines

Tina is a young woman hiding from her grief on the streets of the Cross. On a cold night in the middle of winter she breaks all her own rules when she agrees to go home with a customer. What she finds in his house will change her life forever. Across the country, Sarah and Doug are trapped in limbo, struggling to accept the loss that now governs their lives. Pete is the local policeman who feels like he is watching the slow death of his own family. Every day brings a fresh hell for each of them. Told from the alternating points of view of Tina, Sarah, Doug, and Pete, The Boy Under the Table is gritty, shocking, moving, and, ultimately, filled with hope.

"I found The Boy Under the Table impossible to put down once I had started—the pace is unrelenting and the story is utterly engrossing. The conclusion is tinged with both hope and sadness and I held my children a little tighter and a lot longer when I had finished. The Boy Under The Table is a confronting story, but one that is well worth reading.'  —Great Aussie Reads

"While this could have made for a harrowing read, the book is also littered with the kinds of characters that restore your faith in humanity. . . There's no sentimentality here, just the real and harrowing experiences of a family, and a community, touched by tragedy."  —Reading Bar

"If you love writers such as Jodi Picoult or Caroline Overington, Nicole may just be your cup of tea."  —The Hoopla

"If you’re looking for the Australian equivalent of Jodi Picoult, look no further than Nicole Trope, who is making a name for herself as a writer of provocative family dramas with hard-hitting issues at their core." —Hanna Richell, Australian Women’s Weekly

Nicole Trope is a former high school teacher with a Masters Degree in Children's Literature. She is the author of I Ran Away First, The Secrets in Silence, and Three Hours Late.