A man in a flash car stops to offer a drenched young woman a lift in the dark, on the outskirts of Masterton, and Tess, though wary, takes up the offer. But her decision has consequences - for herself, for the driver and for his disfunctional family. Tess is the first novel by Wellington short-story writer Kirsten McDougall. She talks to Lynn Freeman about how her own disquieting experiences were woven into the book. Tess is published by Victoria University Press.