The “you” of Whitaker’s emotionally charged novel is the narrator’s daughter. Stevie Buchanan, fiftysomething art therapist, is a victim of “parental alienation”, a severing of relations between parents and children as a result of marriage or relationship breakdown.

In urgently, insistently addressing his daughter, a 21-year-old student, Stevie does the very thing he is prevented from doing in person, as he has been estranged from her for seven years. His desperation fuels flights of imagination in which, together, the pair revisit scenes of family history going back generations to examine the domino effect of traumas that repeat themselves with devastating effect.

The first-person narrative gives Stevie total control over the interpretation he puts on his wife’s behaviour, although there is some empathy along with the blame. This is very much a victim’s account – a sustained cry for help and understanding – driven by a need to counterbalance what is presented as cruel and unjust wrongdoing. A very well constructed “issue novel”, Stevie’s lament is ultimately highly persuasive.

• You is published by Salt. To order a copy for £8.49 (RRP £9.99) go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.