My ear tracked the sound...the slow roll of rubber on blue metal, the stealthy crunching undergrowth sound of something prowling.
When Gail Bell was seventeen, she was shot in the back. Coming home from evening class later than usual one night, she took a short cut through the dark streets of new estate, unaware she was being watched. When a car began following her, she felt a jolt of fear. Then the car stopped and out of the eerie silence came a cracking sound as a bullet struck her from behind.
The car sped away and the shooter was never found. Being shot is a life-altering experience that cries out for explanation, but for Gail there were bigger mysteries than the identity of the gunman. In this book, she questions the place of guns in our social world, and explores the intricate, surprising ways our minds deal with traumatic shock.
Gail Bell was born in Sydney, is a graduate in pharmacy and education from the University of Sydney, and has worked in Australia and England.
She lived and worked (teaching English) in Holland for five years, has travelled extensively with her photographer husband Andrew, and has published travel essays from their time in India.
