Mercy Blain’s house in Adelaide burns down and she is traumatised. She has not just lost her home and belongings, but also her refuge from the world for the past two years. Broken by a series of devastating personal events, she has struggled with her mental health.

She accepts temporary accommodation with her ex-husband Eugene and his new lover but knows she can’t possibly stay with them and must try to find a way of breaking out of the anxiety and shadows she has created for herself. When she comes across an elderly man selling a battered 0ld Daihatsu Hijet campervan, with hand-painted flowers on the bodywork and the words ‘Home is wherever you ARE’, she buys it.

Mercy’s spontaneous escape route is partly brought on by trying to dislodge a huntsman spider walking across her windscreen and, with her loyal dachshund Wasabi by her side, plus an unexpected box of human ashes under a bench for company, she embarks on her journey of redemption and recovery along the Stuart Highway all the way across Central Australia to Darwin.

With a vehicle that has a top speed of 70 kph and bodywork held together on a wing a prayer, naturally there are hold-ups and diversions along the way. Mercy encounters an assortment of characters including breezy grey nomads, an imagined Outback serial killer and a tabloid journalist who unfortunately recognises her.

She also meets the Scotsman, Andy, who is on his own personal journey and while travelling in tandem with him Mercy finally begins to gain control of the panic attacks that have crippled her life. On the rare occasions her ex-husband manages to contact her - telecommunications being highly unreliable in the Outback- he repeatedly pressures her to return to face the music in an upcoming enquiry but Mercy is determined to complete the journey on her own terms and still make it back on time.

This entertaining and rewarding “road” story has its adventure and whimsy while never shying away from the serious mental health issues that can be brought on by life’s unpredictable events, by stress, and the unreasonable demands of perfection we often place on ourselves. Mercy is a likeable and finely-drawn character, someone with whom many readers will identify and enjoy spending time with. Highly recommended.

A wonderful and engaging read. As someone who has travelled the path Mercy did (as in the road from Adelaide to Darwin), it was refreshing to go back and read an unglamorous version of campervan life complete with huntsmen and dealing with road train anxiety.

Mercy hasn’t stepped outside her house for 2 years until the night it burns down.
What follows is a soul searching journey across Australia where unbeknownst to Mercy, the journey heals her.
The book beautifully describes the wonder of the Australian outback and the towns along the way.
A beautiful and inspiring read.

I thought that The Other Side Of Beautiful was a great read. I finished it in a couple of days.
The main character is Mercy Blain, who hasn't left her house in a couple of years. At the beginning of the story, Mercy's house burns down, leaving her to turn to her (not-quite) ex-husband Eugene, but it isn't long before she realises she needs to move on.
When the opportunity arises to purchase a run down campervan, she takes it, and decides to head towards Darwin from Adelaide.
Plagued with anxiety and panic attacks, it isn't easy for Mercy to even fill the campervan with fuel, or buy supplies, but as she travels along the way, she slowly finds the way.
The reader finds out what has bought on her fears as the story unfolds, and I felt for Mercy, who was an obstetrician before some life-changing events took place.
Eugene tries to get in contact with Mercy on numerous occasions as he needs her to return to Adelaide, but why? And why was Mercy so afraid of leaving her home for so long?
Mercy meets some lovely people along her journey, however I did feel that it was a bit too much of a coincidence that she kept meeting up with/ bumping into the same people; it didn't seem very believable and that would be one of the only things I didn't like about the story.
But apart from that, it really was an enjoyable read and one that I would recommend.

It’s been a long time since I read a book which held my attention so well and kept me reading long after I should have turned the light out and gone to sleep.

Mercy Blain has nowhere to go. She hasn’t left her house in two years, but when it burns down she has no choice. Her ex-husband offers her his spare room, but it’s soon clear she can’t stay there. Then one morning she spots an old campervan for sale with “Home is where you ARE” painted on the side. She buys it on a whim, packs all her belongings (a phone and her dog Wasabi - even the clothes she’s wearing are borrowed) and starts driving. And then just keeps on going.

Along her journey she faces many fears, meets many and varied people and sees amazing sights. There’s a wee romance with a handsome Scotsman, and as we travel with her from one side of the country to the other, Mercy’s story is slowly and painfully revealed. No wonder it was so much easier for her to just lock herself away for 2 years.

This was such a lovely story. It was at times funny and heartbreaking, and the descriptions of the landscape made me want to drive through central Australia too. I did Darwin to Alice Springs once on a Contiki tour, but the way Mercy did it sounds much more rewarding.

Thank you to Harlequin Australia for a free copy of this wonderful book. I thoroughly recommend it to those who appreciate a well-written, believable story with plenty of heart and soul. I will be seeking out more of Kim Lock’s work.

A fun road trip across the Australian outback!

Mercy is clearly dealing with some serious trauma when she sets off on an epic journey across Australia with her cute little dog Wasabi. As the miles roll past, she's forced to deal with her past and discover what her future might hold. This is a well-written, entertaining story of adventure and healing, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy.

I really enjoyed this book and was involved from the very first page.
Mercy Blain is an unusual heroine, presenting as a muddled anxious woman in her mid thirties with secrets to hide. She finds herself flung out into harsh reality but rises to the occasion to triumph over the odds.

Accompanied by her faithful friend Wasabi, Mercy meets a cast of characters along the way.
The description of grey nomad behaviour and outback Australia is apt and there are a couple of mysteries to unravel along the way.
I loved the way the ending came together very neatly.

I'll certainly be investigating more of Kim Locks literary offerings in the future.
Thanks to Harlequin and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book

Kim Lock The Other Side of Beautiful, HQ Fiction, an imprint of Harlequin Enterprises, Australia, 2021.
Thank you to NetGalley for the uncorrected reading copy for review.

The preface to Kim Lock’s novel explains her preference for the term ‘nervous breakdown’ to describe depression in a way that anticipates the sufferer’s capacity to achieve a positive outcome: a ‘break through’. Mercy Blain accomplishes this in The Other Side of Beautiful, but not before the debilitating descriptions of her affliction become real, frightening, understandable and poignant to the reader. The journey to Mercy’s break though is undertaken from Adelaide to Darwin in a small vintage caravan with her dachshund, Wasabi.

My penchant for dachshunds enticed me to this book. Wasabi in The Other Side of Beautiful is special: firstly, because of his charm in introducing me to this engrossing novel, secondly his delightful presence throughout Mercy’s journey and thirdly – just because he is. He wriggles on the page; his short legs create humour; and his loyalty is just what Mercy needs.

Mercy’s life as an obstetrician and marriage to Eugene has been shattered. Most recently her home has burnt to the ground, her flight to refuge with the estranged Eugene has been truncated by his new partner’s coldness, and the miasma of worry and misery which has engulfed Mercy’s attempt to live normally is amplified. Until the house became inhabitable, Mercy barely left its security. Now she must. The refuge Mercy seeks in the familiarity of Eugene’s world is an illusion, magnifying the misery of her life in Adelaide. The vintage caravan for sale on a neighbour’s verge offers an alternative, and Mercy begins her journey north from Adelaide in a confusion of fear, resentment, bravado, and despair. One ambition becomes the focus – Mercy must leave. She must accomplish seemingly insurmountable tasks in doing so and travel far away from the swamp of her current world.

Ordinary responsibilities such as shopping, stopping for petrol or a pee, acknowledging the bonhomie of other people in caravans on the road, overnight stops or just a short time in a layby are, when lived through Mercy’s eyes, excruciating experiences. Lock does a marvellous job of making Mercy’s world, cluttered with fear and distress, our own. However, for the reader, at the same time as the friendliness of other caravanners becomes the strangling experience Mercy feels, the depiction of these ‘typical Australians’ is a joy. Although over time Mercy manages to accommodate their varying personalities, including that of Andrew McCauley, a Scottish traveller who recognises her need for space and privacy, the reader can always enjoy them to the full. One character’s grating intervention in the less stressful world Mercy is attempting to establish provides some of the background story to her breakdown. The ashes of an unknown character, reposing in a box in the caravan, provide Mercy with an incentive to continue her journey to the end when her responsibilities in Adelaide threaten to interrupt.

The journey from Adelaide to Darwin is an environmental adventure. Sunrise at Marla, a tiny township, merges into roadhouses and roadside stops with their simple amenities blocks, familiar foliage is followed by kilometres with no vegetation, the quiet of an early morning is sullied by recall of the huge road trains that pass with their alarmingly numerous wheels, large towns such as Alice Springs and Darwin with their own charm and unconventionalities contrast with the quiet of the bush. In this environment is Mercy, at times showered, too often dirty, smelly, and greasy haired.

Lock writes a story that combines strong characterisation; a storyline that has elements of complexity along with the simple one of driving away from trouble, accomplishing a ‘break through’ and moving forward; and an openness about the future possibilities Mercy has won through her travel. Mercy, Wasabi and the people they meet on the road are characters that not only live but thrive because of their travel. Mercy’s journey brings her into contact with people whose lives at a superficial sighting appear to be smoothly running, based only around their comfortable retirement. Their large shiny caravans compare dramatically with Mercy’s small, old fashioned van, but the picture of these ‘grey nomads’ travelling around Australia, adding an extra loop of road, treeless vistas and indifferent roadhouses and amenities to achieve yet another adventure is poignant in its own way.

Returning to dachshunds, I am grateful to Wasabi for introducing me to Kim Lock’s novel, and I look forward to reading more - even without a dachshund. The positive responses to Lock’s writing which establishes the dramatic contrasts of the Australian landscape, and her ability to depict a flawed character with sensitivity and warmth so Mercy never becomes a cliché or too painful to know, are worth recapturing. As if that is not enough, the illustrated maps of Mercy’s journey and Wasabi’s pawprints on the occasional page add to the charm of this novel.

There's been quite a few books about quirky characters going on a quirky journey for a purpose to rediscover themselves or solve some personnel problems. Mercy Blain is one of these characters but in her case she has to carry her problem of panic disorder with her. The author has experienced this disease and so poor old Mercy's emotions are coming from real experiences which frankly are hard to understand unless you do have this disease.
The book also features a cast of retirees driving caravans around Australia, the Grey Nomads, which I am part of at the moment so these people and their behaviours are both quirky and true.
The writing flows, Mercy finds ways to cope and by the end I wanted to get back on the road again and experience the open roads.

What a beautifully written, descriptive book, leaving us in no doubt how the power of a panic attack can bring you down and leave you feeling emotionally wrung out.
Mercy tried to hide, and successfully did for two years before events out of her control yet again, forced her to runaway to try and hide. Instead, she has a whirlwind of a road trip, finding who she is again, and comes to terms with herself and the past.

A poignant story of fear, anxiety, care and love all bundled up into a beautifully and sensitively written book.

What an amazing book. A great adventure story that is full of feeling and emotions people suffer from on a day basis. A travel story that addresses issues such an anxiety , hurt and a need to run.
A beautifully written story that people can relate to and an easy read. It's funny, comical and a true likeness.
A must read and a high five for Australuan authors.

Such a heartwarming, lovely book! I loved following Mercy on her journey from Adelaide to Darwin in a lemon of a van with her sausage dog, Wasabi. Also....I need to know what happened to Andy!

Absolutely enthralled by the story, I enjoyed how the writer unfolded the extreme anxiety, via the road trip.
Anxiety does horrible things to us, I could equate with the heroine in this story. The writer had her come out the other side a whole person again.
Loved the story loved the odd mix of characters along the way, some laughing and crying great book

I’m calling it now, in March. The Other Side of Beautiful is going to be this year’s standout novel. I’ll be hard pressed to find something better to read! I can almost feel the red dust under my fingernails from the drive to Darwin.

Dr Mercy Blain has panic disorder. She’s spent the last 2 years inside her own home, but that has just burnt down. She momentarily moves in with her sort-of-ex-husband, but that arrangement isn’t tenable. Next thing we know, Mercy is driving north from Adelaide in a tiny Daihatsu Hijet, with her sausage dog and a box of ashes. As she runs away from everything, can she actually find herself and the strength she needs to face things that need facing?

This novel has been at least in part influenced by Kim Lock’s own “nervous breakdown”, as she puts it, and you can feel it in the descriptions of Mercy’s thoughts and feelings - this character has been created from a place of understanding.

5 stars from me. A must-read. Thank you you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Mercy Blain's house burns down the day before her 36th birthday, leaving her with nothing but the clothes she's wearing, her phone and her sausage dog Wasabi. This is complicated by the fact she's agoraphobic and hasn't left that house in two years. After spending the night at her ex-husbands house she spontaneously buys a dinged up Daihatsu van and embarks on a tragicomic vanlife road trip from Adelaide to Darwin.

Well written, for fans of Eleanor Oliphant, Arthur Pepper or Harold Fry. The protagonist is quirky, mentally unhealthy and embarks on a journey. Fun!