Court Out: A Netball Girls’ Drama is a new adult sports fiction/women’s fiction novel written by Deb McEwan. Marsha’s life began to change in exciting, new ways when she finally broke free of the control exercised by her abusive husband, Keith, and she got a job. It wasn’t a fancy job, but she was still quite pleased with being a cleaner on the base. Cleaning was what she did at home, after all, and she was getting paid for it while getting to know people outside of her home life. Best of all, she had been persuaded to join the netball team that her new best friend Carol and her other friends at the base belonged to. Marsha hadn’t played netball since she was fourteen, when she had had to stop after getting pregnant by her mother’s boyfriend. It had been a traumatic experience, capped with having Social Services take away her baby girl. Keith had seemed a savior at first, offering her a stable home and support after life with her alcoholic and unstable mother, but it was by no means a happy or fulfilling life. Marsha was a natural at netball. While she felt ungainly and awkward compared to the lean, toned and fit women she was playing with, they recognized her latent talent and would give her the opportunities to show her worth -- and it made her feel good about herself. Things were definitely looking up for the thirty-year-old whose youth had been wrested away from her far too soon.

Deb McEwan’s sports fiction novel for new adults, Court Out: A Netball Girls’ Drama, is an absolute delight to read. I loved experiencing the play-by-play action as Marsha, Rose, Sandy and the other women play netball. I had been unfamiliar with this sport before, so learning about it and experiencing it vicariously through the story was a treat. McEwan’s story is also an illuminating one in its look at women and the continuing disparity of treatment of the genders in modern day society. Kaitlyn’s controlling father, who is aghast at her work as an escort and angered by his wife’s infidelities, explains his own inconsistency to Kaitlyn by saying that it’s different for men. McEwan’s characters all seem to be responding, “no, it isn’t,” and that’s a very good thing. Watching as Marsha and her mother-in-law, Anne, forge a continuing and strong friendship, despite Keith’s early sabotage, is a joy, and watching as Marsha and the other women take control of their lives is illuminating and powerful. I had a marvelous time reading this book and getting to know McEwan’s Netball Girls. Court Out: A Netball Girls’ Drama is most highly recommended.

"Everybody has a story," as the saying goes, and in Court Out, a Netball Girls' Drama by Deb McEwan, there's a lot more stories off the court than any of the netball players imagine. Get ready for a slightly lightweight, but well-crafted story that tosses and bounces everything around the court, but earns Deb McEwan a trophy for bringing it all home as neatly and interestingly as she does.

Not to be sexist, but you'd be right to conclude that Court Out will appeal to women, even those who have never played netball. In actual fact, this group of women who meet regularly to work out, train and compete are like most females who belong to any woman's group: they all want love; their pasts are varied but they share a common interest, in this case, playing netball; and they all have their share of insecurities, strengths and weaknesses. They recognize these traits in each other, but not necessarily in themselves. No surprise there. But what they don't know about each other is who is sleeping with whom, and it's not always their own husbands or partners.

And therein, along with jealousies, gossip, and the competitive spirit that binds them lies the clever plotting and character development that keep readers turning the pages. Overall, the actual netball court and what happens on it is very much secondary to the motivations and emotions of those characters whose stories contribute to Court Out.