Title: Unspeakable Things
My
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟1/2
Congratulations to Sophie Kersey on the publication of her debut novel Unspeakable Things this month!
Book Description:
You’re pregnant.
You find out there’s madness in the family.
What are you going to do now?
Sarah Mercer wants to find out about her mother, Mary, who
died when she was four. She and her husband, Jim, move into her
abandoned childhood home, hoping to connect with what’s left of her family. Her
Uncle John runs the Woodlands Clinic nearby, and she is thrilled when he talks
to her about Mary.
But it turns out that Mary tried to kill her and died a
mental patient at Woodlands. And her mother went mad before her, soon after her
children were born. Only Uncle John will discuss the past, but can Sarah really
trust him? Her desperate search for what really happened to her mother rocks her
marriage, her career and her dearest friendships.
At Woodlands, the patients are sedated and neglected, and
caring nurse Kim is asking too many questions, especially about the patient
locked up in the tower. Both Sarah and Kim’s lives are in danger as the horrors
of the past resurface.
Can Sarah discover the family’s bitter secret before her
baby is born? Or will she go mad trying?
Unspeakable Things is a suspenseful mystery about
motherhood and madness.
My musings:
Everyone who has lost a parent will be able to relate to the
ongoing pain and grief as we pass milestones without having this person by our
side to guide us or to share the highs
and the lows of life with. When Sarah finds out she is pregnant, she desperately
longs to find out more about her mother, who died when Sarah was four. Worse
still, Sarah’s father has always been reluctant to talk about his wife, and now
that he is dead, there is no one left to ask. When she manages to connect with
her uncle John, her mother’s twin, Sarah is convinced that she will finally
find some answers. She is shocked to hear that that her mother had been an
inmate in a mental institution before her death, accused of trying to smother
her baby daughter with a pillow. But John also proves to be tight-lipped when
it comes to the events that led to her mother’s incarceration, and as the baby is
growing inside her, Sarah is becoming more and more concerned. Is insanity
hereditary? Should she be worried that a
similar fate will befall her? Becoming more and more obsessed with finding out
the truth, Sarah discovers some things that just don’t make any sense, but no
one is taking her seriously. Some even wonder if she, too, is going crazy ...
I really enjoyed the setting of this novel, the old gothic
building that houses a hospital for the mentally insane – I could picture it
vividly! Every suspense novel relies on atmosphere to set the scene, and this
was the perfect location. It even has a tower! Who doesn’t love a spooky old
building, especially with a history like this?
Having lost my mother as a child, I could fully relate to
Sarah’s longing to find out the truth, embarking on a similar quest when I had
my babies (although my family history was a lot less dramatic than hers). By
titling some chapters with the number of weeks in Sarah’s pregnancy, Kersey
adds an added element of suspense – like a ticking clock – counting down to the
inevitable finale. I have never seen this done quite the same way before, and
it was very clever and effective. Knowing that something was about to happen
before the baby would make its arrival, and that it would likely not be
anything good, really revved up the sense of danger and suspense that lurked in
the background of Sarah’s story.
Whilst Sarah’s story is the main focus of the novel, there
is also a cast of secondary characters who offer the reader glimpses into their
lives. I especially liked Nurse Kim’s story, and wished I could have found out
more about her fate. It was also interesting to see how differently David,
Sarah’s brother, deals with the mystery of their mother’s death, and how it
frustrates Sarah that he doesn’t feel the same way about her quest as she does.
Some of David’s actions made him somewhat suspicious to me – but you will have
to read it yourself to find out if I was right or wrong!
Warning – there are a few themes in this novel that are not
for the faint-hearted and may be disturbing to some readers. Once the skeletons
start coming out of the family closet, there are truths that Sarah was
definitely not prepared for. Dark and disturbing, this is an intriguing tale
about the dark secrets families keep, and one woman’s quest for the truth. I am
glad that my own quest unearthed much less shocking details! If you are a lover
of mysteries with dysfunctional family dynamics and dark gothic undertones,
than this may be the perfect read for you.
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