Rebecca Lim’s THE GRADUATE (Affirm Press 2026) is an original and fast-paced psychological thriller and mystery suspense. The plot is an iceberg: so much going on under the surface narrative. The main protagonist, new law graduate Fei Fei Chou, is a compelling character and it is her quest for revenge that propels the story forward.
Fei Fei is mousy and quiet and wears way too much make-up. She’s the firm’s diversity hire; her boss has a thing for Asians and flaunts his penchant by continually taking her out to lunch and giving her the benefit of the doubt regarding her oddities. She’s smart and works hard but doesn’t seem to care about fitting in with the other graduates or indeed anybody in the prestigious firm, E M + L, even the management.
But perhaps that’s because Fei Fei didn’t seek out this particular job to climb the corporate ladder: she’s here for revenge. Despite her outer demeanour, she is brave, feisty, uncompromising, ambitious, determined and sympathetic to those she has decided to help.
The background (without giving spoilers) is that 30 years ago, three schoolgirls were kidnapped and abused by a man never identified or charged, and Fei suspects the information she needs to find him is somehow connected with her new law firm, whether accidentally or by design. She decides to deliberately place herself in a dangerous situation to try to uncover the truth. What she finds – secrets and a history of power, privilege and cover-ups – will shock not only her, but the entire nation.
The first few pages are abject horror, a picture of pain and vulnerability and powerlessness from which it is difficult to look away. But it is nothing that hasn’t happened in real life. And, as in life, the characters use humour to deflect, to survive, to manage to live day by day despite their horrifying experiences.
THE GRADUATE is blackly funny with a wry and twisted sense of humour that can only come from deep trauma. Meticulously plotted, the narrative is complex, threaded throughout with different perspectives, memories and knowledge. It will appeal to those who love a great legal thriller.
My only (small) criticism is I was easily confused by some of the formatting. Fei exchanges text messages with others, and although they are identified by an initial, sometimes one person will text several times in a row and it’s unclear who is conversing. A small thing but it did have the effect of pulling me out of the story occasionally as I tried to work out who was speaking (texting), and that’s a shame, because if you can get past that, this is a really clever and engrossing tale.
THE GRADUATE does come with a Content Warning, because it ‘graphically explores themes that may be difficult or distressing for some readers, including child sexual abuse / assault and racism’. I found Lim handled these issues as sensitively as possible while still conveying the story. The child abuse is authentic and very close to real cases but is not gratuitous. The racism is hard to read but will be all too familiar to some readers who have experienced the same discriminations.
The novel includes some excellent sub-plots and minor characters, some full of vim and charisma and some extremely dislikeable and malignant.
The detective-like nature of the book will appeal to readers who love to solve a mystery. Lim writes with confidence and assuredness and the story is full of legal complexities and questions, media reports and the resultant opening of wounds, the loneliness and isolation of a woman ‘othered’ yet trying to fit in to reach her ultimate goal.
In her afterword, Lim admonishes anyone who recognises themselves as working for a firm such as E M + L to ‘do better’ in terms of their perhaps blinkered racism. She also dedicates the book to all the girls and women ‘who were not valued, who were coveted, used, demeaned and discarded, and who never came home, or returned broken …’ She continues that ‘what happened to you is part of our collective sorrow and deep shame’. Whether Lim has a personal stake in this story or whether, through extensive research, she has opened her heart to empathy and compassion for the survivors of abuse, the result is a compelling and pacy read that will surprise you at every turn, reveal the unthinkable and open Pandora’s Box, all while retaining immense concern, care and consideration for the characters she writes and the real people who live the lives she writes about.