WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN by Wendy James
For me, the strength of a domestic
thriller lies in the ordinariness of its characters. The more these people
resemble the humdrum existence of the ordinary citizen – in this case the stay
at home mum who is satisfied with cleaning the house, look after her children
and put dinner on the table for her husband – the more sinister the plot
appears. If this can happen to any boring, ordinary, tax-paying citizen, this
could happen to any of us! Let’s also make it clear that James’ novel is set in
the 90’s, a time before you could jump on social media and the internet and
find out everything about everyone else, and the premise will appear a lot more
believable.
In 1975, Susan’s sister Karen sets
out for her high school formal and never comes home. Now, twenty years later,
Susan is married to her high school sweetheart and has two children of her own.
Her mother has recently died after a long illness, never fully recovering from
her elder daughter’s disappearance. In her will, she leaves the family home to
both her daughters, and the family solicitor informs Susan that every effort
must be made to locate her missing sister. In the 90’s, this involved placing
an advertisement in several prominent papers and weeding out the frauds
(remember these ads?). To Susan’s surprise, a woman comes forward claiming to
be Karen. Now living under the name Carly, she has knowledge of family matters
that convince the family solicitor that she must indeed be Karen, despite an
inconclusive DNA test.
Initially resistant, Susan eventually
welcomes Carly into her home, thrilled to have found her long lost sister. Soon
Carly skilfully inserts herself into the family, winning over even Susan’s
sceptical husband Ed and the trust of their two children, and moving into the
family home.
With themes of sisterhood, family
and belonging, James presents a tale that is heavy with foreboding and peppered
with the seeds of mistrust as the reader follows the family’s journey from here
forward. I know that I certainly had my own thoughts about Carly, and witnessing
the ensuing chaos was like watching an impending train wreck. Like in her novel
THE ACCUSATION (which I loved), James always leaves an element of doubt in all
possible scenarios. What if Carly is the real deal? What actually did happen to
Karen on that fateful night?
Personally, I found parts of the
story a little bit lacking or perhaps just too ambiguous to make this premise
work to its best effect. Susan was merely an ordinary, nice, trusting person
who longed for family (aka her lost sister), and I generally just felt sad for
her as she generously let Carly into their fold. As a “thriller” I was missing
elements of suspense or the social critique that would make me either resent
Susan or Ed for being greedy or middle class snobs (i.e. be on team Carly), or
feel a burning hatred for the obvious impostor Carly (i.e. be on team Susan).
As it was, I only felt somewhat deflated and was left with more questions than
answers (which may have been the author’s intent). That said, I am still
thinking about these characters long after I have moved on to another book, so
there is definitely something in James writing that always gets under my skin,
and I am eagerly awaiting her future novels.
THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER by Minette
Walters
Ever since reading Walters’ novels
about the black death, I have been hooked on her historical fiction books. In THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER, Walters once
again brings one of England’s past eras to life – this time the 1700s, a time
of civil war. As with her previous HF novels, Walters has created an
interesting, strong female character to lead the story, young physician Jayne
Swift, the daughter of a local squire who is defying all of the rules applied
to women at the time. Not only is she intelligent and quick-witted (and not too
afraid to show it), but she has also defied convention by teaching herself
medicine and choosing the path of physician rather than wife. Whilst this
alienates her from most of her peers, she meets her match in William Harrier,
who has many guises of his own (from footman to knight and many alter egos in
between).
Whilst I mostly enjoyed the book, it
did stall a few times in overly descriptive and repetitive scenes that could
have been edited slightly to move the story along. There were a few times when
I desperately longed for something to happen as I trudged through a myriad of
characters or battle scenes. Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the
history lessons at school, and some of the political details would have fallen
into place a bit easier for me.
In summary, set against the backdrop
of the English Civil War, THE SWIFT AND THE HARRIER takes us on a delightful
journey into the history books, led by an interesting female protagonist. Even
though I wasn’t totally convinced that a woman like Jayne truly existed in that
male dominated era, I enjoyed the history lesson and the very understated
romance that slowly unfolded between herself and one of the male leads. THE
SWIFT AND THE HARRIER will appeal to readers who enjoy a character driven,
slower paced novel that covers a period in history not often found in other
fiction books.
THE GLASS HOUSE by Eve Chase
THE GLASS HOUSE is my third book by
Eve Chase, all read in quick succession because I just can't get enough of her
stories of dark family secrets and sibling relationships. As with some of her
previous books, Chase lets her story play out in two separate storylines running
parallel to one another, until they seamlessly come together to reveal the
answers we have been seeking.
In the summer of 1971, Jeannie
Harrington escapes her controlling husband and her grief by moving her two
children and their nanny, "Big Rita", to their country house Foxcote
Manor. There, in the depths of the forest, a baby girl is found abandoned and
is taken in by the family, despite Rita's misgivings that all is not well in
the Harrington household. Fast forward to the present, and we hear about
Sylvie, whose mother is in ICU after an accident at home and whose daughter
just had some life changing news. I loved the gradual unravelling of threads
and exposing of secrets that ultimately brought these different timelines and
characters together for a satisfying finale.
All in all, THE GLASS HOUSE was
a deliciously mysterious story of family secrets against an atmospheric
backdrop of the Forest of Dean, which leant the novel an almost fairytale like
quality, especially the scenes at Foxcote Manor. Chase is a master at
portraying family relationships, especially those between siblings, and once
more her book ticked all the boxes for me.
THE COUPLE AT NO 9 by Claire Douglas
THE COUPLE AT NO 9 was my first book
by Claire Douglas, but it certainly won't be my last! If you are looking for
dark family secrets and a delightful twist, then look no further.
Young couple Tom and Saffron have
their dreams of converting Saffron's grandmother's old cottage into their dream
home shattered when earthworks uncover two skeletons in the garden. Forensics
soon identify one of the bodies as that of a man who disappeared thirty years
ago. But how was Saffron's grandmother Rose connected to him? Rose has recently
moved into a care home and is suffering from Alzheimer's, so her recall of the
past is confused and patchy. The more Saffron and her mother Lorna dig into the
past, the more convinced they are that events may be connected to one of Rose's
lodgers, a mysterious woman called Daphne, who was living in the cottage when
Lorna was a baby. There is only one problem: Daphne has also disappeared, and
noone remembers what happened to her. Is Daphne the other woman in the grave?
And if so, could Rose have killed her?
I loved the way Douglas explores the
story from the POV of three different generations of women, who are all
complex, well rounded characters who intrigued me. As the story unfolded and
some of the threads came together, there was drama and tragedy and a mighty
twist that completely took me by surprise. With its slow, almost languid start
and an explosive finale, THE COUPLE AT NO 9 ticked all the boxes for me
and I can't wait to read more from this author in future.
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