Only Here, Only Now

Newlands debuts with a stirring portrait of a 14-year-old neurodivergent Scottish girl dealing with grief and restlessness. It’s 1994, and Cora Mowat dreams of leaving dull Muircross behind (“The town looked like a handful of gray gravel chucked up the coast”). She’s been dealt a rough hand ever since her father was electrocuted to death while trying to steal copper from a mining tunnel 10 years ago. Since then, her mother, Maggie, who uses a wheelchair, has been bringing home questionable boyfriends. The latest, Gunner, shows promise as a father figure, taking Cora on walks and teaching her about birds, and he pledges to commit to her and her mother. Tragedy strikes again, though, when Maggie is fatally struck by a car, after which Gunner takes Cora in. Newlands does an excellent job portraying Cora’s undiagnosed ADHD (“Fucked-up hyperactive me and my excessive talking and my fucked-up future and my unbitten neck”), shedding light on the ways in which the condition was overlooked in the ’90s. The complex relationship between Cora and Gunner is particularly well rendered, as Cora copes by drinking heavily and Gunner confronts the limits of his ability to care for her. This vibrant coming-of-age story makes a big impression. Agent: Gráinne Fox, UTA. (Nov.)