I Am the Cage

An emotional coming-of-age story about a young woman running away from herself while trying to find a way back. Deeply moving, authentically raw, and humming with the possibility of a new love.

Fish Creek, Wisconsin – Beautiful. Quiet. Isolated. Anonymous. It’s all nineteen-year-old Elisabeth needs, and everything she wants. Cloistered in her tiny cabin, Elisabeth is determined to live life alone, hiding from her memories and far from her family.

But when a snowstorm strikes, plunging the town into darkness, Elisabeth reluctantly accepts help from her neighbour, Noah, the town’s young sheriff. Obliged to show him more vulnerability than she ever intended, Elisabeth realises she can no longer outrun her childhood. And facing the darkness might be exactly what she needs to let the light in.

In a searing story accented by poignant childhood flashbacks and stunning poetry, Allison Sweet Grant’s young adult debut is a quietly powerful portrait of a young woman’s journey to confront the medical trauma inflicted to “fix” her – and heal her heart in the process.