Under The Shadow of a Rainbow

Description

Under the Shadow of a Rainbow
By Deirdre Hanna

In Under the Shadow of a Rainbow, sixteen-year-old Ella’s world crumbles after her dad’s death. Her mum’s drowning in tears, Ella’s stuck in emotional limbo, and a rainbow at the funeral feels like the universe’s cruel joke. Enter The Rainbow House, a grief support group filled with awkward silences and beanbags—but also Jake, a boy whose guitar speaks louder than words.

Through witty, heartfelt moments, Ella and Jake bond over their shared loss, finding solace in music, journalling, and some laugh-out-loud awkwardness. They plan a gap year—Yosemite for Ella to connect with her dad’s memory and Berlin for Jake to immerse himself in the underground music scene. Along the way, they discover that grief doesn’t mean the end of everything—it’s just the beginning of something new.

Ella’s dad used to quote Leonard Cohen: “There’s a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” Both Ella and Jake now realise the truth in this, a wise legacy from her dad.