It was partly the setting that attracted me to Sarah Perry’s first novel – I love Norfolk’s huge sky and lovely coastline – but the blurb was enticing, too, and I don’t say that very often. A middle-aged man exhausted by the seemingly endless heat wave that’s hit London shuts up shop and heads off to his brother’s house in Norfolk. He’s forgotten to take a map but is convinced he knows the way until his car breaks down miles from anywhere. He spots a house on the horizon and makes for it only to find himself welcomed as if he’s expected and ushered into a room which has been prepared for him where he finds boxes labelled with his name. So far, so spooky and it becomes more so when John comes down for dinner and finds himself ignored, then drawn into a conversation in which most of the house’s inhabitants seem to think he knows why he’s there. Unnerved, John begins to make a record of what’s happened in a notebook he finds in his room. It soon becomes clear that this is a case of mistaken identity but what gives Perry’s novel a twist is John’s deliberate collusion in that mistake.
Perry’s characters are a decidedly rum bunch, each of them troubled in some way: Elijah is a priest made sick with anxiety about his loss of faith; Alex is deeply vulnerable and made more so by the poison pen letters that play on his fears; Clare, his oddly childlike sister, frets about her brother’s mental state; Eve, their friend, is a talented yet frustrated pianist with whom the aloof Walker is obsessed. Over it all presides Hester, physically unprepossessing but firmly in control. During the course of a week, John – buttoned-up and rootless – finds himself embroiled in the tangled relationships of the household as each of them confides in him. It ends in tears with a birthday party and a storm.
It’s not quite the psychological thriller I was expecting from the first few chapters – it’s a much more subtle book than that in which Perry takes her time, skilfully revealing what has brought this intense household together. She vividly summons up the discomfiting claustrophobia of a household seething with unspoken resentments, powerfully conveying John’s bafflement at the odd company he finds himself in and his inability to extract himself from it. Although Elijah is the novel’s only explicitly religious character, its seven-day trajectory and Alex’s terror of flood has connotations of the Christian creation myth, particularly given Perry’s deeply religious upbringing. It’s not without faults – the end had a bit too much of the King Lears for me – but it’s an atmospheric, thought-provoking novel which keeps you guessing.
Let’s hope that Sarah Perry doesn’t join the band of unsung women authors of which there are many. Ali from Heavenali and I have both contributed five each of our favourites to Naomi’s post at The Writes of Women written as part of her response to the Man Booker’s ten men/three women long list. Naomi and Antonia Honeywell will be posting their selections over the weekend but if you have any yourself I’d love to hear about them.
I have this book close to the top of my TBR pile, having been enticed by John Burnside’s review in The Guardian which, from what I remember, marries fairly well with yours. Looking forward to reading it and will check out your nominations on Naomi’s blog.
Hope you like them, Anne. I’ll be interested to see what Ms Perry does next.
Intriguing … my copy arrived a couple of days ago, can’t wait to read it!
A very unusual first novel. I’ll be interested to hear what you think of it, Claire.
I really enjoyed the post on women we ought to be more familiar with — great to see these names getting wider circulation.
So glad you liked it, Vicki. I think Naomi’s doing a great job flying the flag for women writers.
Great review! This book sounds intriguing – one for the TBR list I think 🙂
Hope you like it, Gemma. She’s one to watch, I think.
I’ve been in meetings like that, where everyone thought I knew why I was there and I just had to bluff my way through it. Sometimes I think I made better decisions when I didn’t know what I was doing there than when I did.:-)
I like the idea of nominating women authors who should be better known than they are. I’m always on the look out for new writers. I shall investigate.
That’s sounds a little unnerving, Alex! Hope you find an unsung writer you like the sound of.
John Burnside’s review in the Guardian also caught my eye, and I’m intrigued by the premise. It sounds very atmospheric and nuanced.
I thought it was, Jacqui. A very mature piece of writing for a debut author.
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