A dramatic coming-of-age novel about a boy's divided loyalty: can Elwyn resist the pull of tradition as well as the allure of the new to forge his own path?

Even though Elwyn's ears were full of the roar of wings, even though the birds dropped from the sky, even though the thrill of the hunt was pumping through his body, below all that, Elwyn felt a restlessness. The restlessness had been growing all winter, maybe all his life.

As spring comes to Badfish Creek, the natural world bursts with life and excitement. But Elwyn is dreaming of a different change, of a place far away that he hasn't yet seen. Lured by urban life and all it has to offer – education, progress and opportunity – he doesn't think twice when his uncle invites him to stay in Liberty, a dazzling city he longs to call home.

Yet soon Elwyn realises that all that glitters is not gold: there is a sinister side to Liberty that he can't ignore, which threatens to erase his old way of life completely. With past and present pitted against one another, the path to Elwyn's future is cast in doubt – for change always comes at a price.

Lindsey Whitlock is a Midwestern writer preoccupied by places, people and how to live well. She writes from Madison Wisconsin, where she lives with her husband and three children. The Collective is her debut novel.