Story about growing up in Baton Rouge LA. the main character has a crush on a his neighbor, but does something that perhaps sets her future on a downward course. He experiences obsession, guilt, and tries to help her, but cannot.
Well written and an interesting story.

M.O. Walsh writes concisely, but still with eloquence and imagery in My Sunshine Away. This mystery stems from a seemingly safe and generous neighborhood with kind people - but there are unknown things going on behind everyone's walls and fences. The main character is well-developed from an obsessive young boy to an unruly teenager; all his young life he worries over a girl, Lindy, who, as a teenager, was attacked in the neighborhood he and Lindy lived in. After, this, no lives were the same again.

This coming of age novel is simply told and well written. It focuses around a young boy's infatuation and obsession with a girl in his neighbourhood. The tragic rape of this young girl and the mystery that surrounds it supplies an undertone of tension. This was a fast engaging read and I would be happy to read anything else this author publishes.

Close your eyes for a moment and remember the gang. You know, the one from your old neighborhood. Those kids you ran wild with when it was OK to be kids outdoors. Now imagine an act of violence by an unidentified assailant against one of those friends, and you’ve got M.O. Walsh’s My Sunshine Away.

A rich, deeply complex novel that is also beautifully written. A picture of a young man's coming to understand himself and the world. Absolutely worth reading.

The finest book I've read in a long time. It's been about a year since I read it, and it still haunts me. Walsh is such a fine writer; I was torn between admiration of his craft and jealousy that I may never be this good no matter how hard I try. Powerful and stunning.

loved this book! I couldn't put it down.

Yes, about the very personal aftermaths of a rape in a close-knit neighborhood, but also about the secret lives of boys and the realization of how little we know about our neighbors.

A tedious read. A narrator who does not grow. I skipped to the end after the first several chapters in the hopes I would learn something interesting or shocking that would encourage me to continue reading only to find the narrator twice as old and entirely unchanged.

This book pulled me back after setting it down and saying I would go no further. It is amazingly well written, compelling, ominous, and true to it's era. I found Walsh's take on a home-town tragedy disturbing in a way that I could not ignore. The human tendency to stare in passing at another person's misfortune was the sum total of the author's brilliance. The crime, the discomfort of adolescence, and the cringing moments of lives lived in deep south suburbia. You might disdain loving this book, but read it anyway.