A boy with a rare disease and his dads kidnapped girlfriend in New Zealand
Help!! It’s driving me NUTS that I can’t remember the title of this book. Here’s what I remember:
It’s set in New Zealand. I remember karori, Wellington being mentioned but I think it is set further up north.
The son is told he has a rare disease and if he touches another person he/or them will get really sick. His dad uses this to isolate him.
His dad kidnaps a girl from a lake/river and keeps her in their shed.
At some point, he becomes best mates with his neighbour Rangi. He can’t swim and he drowns.
Somehow the dad dies and the boy (teenager) is in charge. He decides that he genuinely loves the kidnapped girl and therefore should keep her. She gets pregnant and has a baby I think. She plays into it to win his trust, then tries to escape.
Somehow she ends up dead and the boy returns her to where she was kidnapped from so she can be found.
I remember way too many specifics for this not to be a real book - any ideas??