Dave, a Bond Street security guard, catches Alena, a Siberian shoplifter in the act but, awe-struck by her beauty, decides to let her off. The opening chapter of Thirst might sound like standard-issue fodder for a frothy beach read but don't be deceived. Hudson, author of the acclaimed Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma, has followed up that debut with an unflinching yet tender-hearted study of two lowly characters teetering on the brink. Alena, newly arrived in the UK, has fallen prey to sex traffickers and been held hostage by a depraved Russian businessman and his loathsome son. In Dave, a troubled twentysomething reeling from the death of his beloved mother, she sees the possibility of solace, however tenuous.
Hudson doesn’t shy away from the woozy horrors of sexual slavery but, by leavening her tale with a touching romance, she somehow fashions a morally complex and affecting story that ably sidesteps both sensationalism and despair.
