Trauma, Desire and Hope in Contemporary Novels of Sexual Abuse

This thesis interrogates four tropes of postfeminist female empowerment; feminine masquerade, 'sex-positive' sexuality, authentic individualism, and the 'strong' female character, in various bestselling postmillennial young adult titles. It shows that the female protagonists' assertion of empowerment is often illusory: under the guise of choice they often maintain existing gendered discourses.