In Ecstasy

Kate McCaffrey (author)

Freemantle Press, Australia: 2008; 264pp

ISBN: 9781921361166

Genres: realistic fiction

Issues: addiction, drugs, friendship, peer pressure, teenage sexuality

It's only ecstasy and marijuana - everybody uses it. They overrate the dangers, honestly. I can give it up any time I like, it's not as if it's addictive.

Kate McCaffrey explores this attitude in her novel. A deeply disturbing, complex story In Ecstasy is narrated in alternate chapters by two nearly-sixteen-year-old schoolgirls, Sophie and Mia. Sophie is confident, popular, attractive and has a string of boyfriends, each more gorgeous than the last. Mia is shy, isolated, thinks herself plain, and has never had a boyfriend. She longs to be Sophie, with whom she has been best friends since primary school. Two similar ‘good' girls from similar backgrounds with caring, involved parents. Two completely different choices. Two completely different outcomes.

At a party both girls are introduced to ecstasy. For Mia it opens the door into a new world - a world where she is confident and people like her; a world where she is beautiful and is desired by handsome young men. In this world she can become the person she wants to be, uninhibited by her fear. She sees ecstasy as the magic pill that gives her the wings she's never managed to grow for herself.

Youth drug culture is something that all parents and carers (teachers, guardians, police, social workers etc) are concerned about. The levels of drug use despite clever anti-drug advertising, widespread drug education and open discussions in schools, as well as media articles and clear reporting of many sad cases seems to have little effect on the approach amongst young people that use of ecstasy, marijuana and even cocaine is ‘normal'.

McCaffrey's novel gives the reader insight into why drug use is still ‘the norm' amongst young people, despite our best efforts. The voices of her two lead characters explore the seductive nature of drug induced confidence, the brutal realities of playground politics, and the desperate unhappiness of those who feel or actually are rejected by their peers. This is powerful writing that pulls no punches, designed to provoke discussion and provide a starting point for the kind of debates that might just convince drug users that what they are doing is life-threatening. What makes the novel so unsettling - and the more effective and realistic - is that McCaffrey reports both sides of drug use: the highs and the lows, the glamour and the grunge.

If you want to understand why teenagers use drugs - read this book. If you want to talk about drug use with your children - read this book with them. If you want to talk to your class about drug use - read this book to them. Read this book - you might save a life.

Warning: drug use, sexual activity, coarse language (M15+ if a film), death of a minor character