Shadow of doubt

The Beacon by Susan Hill

Chatto & Windus 2008, 160 pages

Colin, Frank, May and Berenice Prime have grown up on a farm called The Beacon, children of hard- working and respected parents. It is presumed Colin will take over the farm, while May wins a scholarship to university only to return a year later and remain at home. Berenice marries, living locally, and Frank goes down to London, where he rapidly becomes a successful journalist; he also writes a best seller: a misery memoir called The Cupboard Under the Stairs.

I’m often envious of people who are able to read novels in one sitting, especially when they are several hundred pages long. One night last week, with footy on the box (again), I made my excuses and was all tucked up by eight o’clock. A couple of hours later, having read The Beacon in its entirety, I turned off the light thinking I was ready to sleep. But as I lay there mulling over what I had just read, my feelings of certainty about what had happened slowly began to evaporate. This is (another) excellent story by Susan Hill, but if a sound night’s sleep is what you have in mind, don’t read it at bedtime.

Death warmed up

Newes from the Dead by Mary Hooper

The Bodley Head 2008, 320 pages

Cromwellian England, 1650. Anne Green, a young serving maid, gives birth to a stillborn illegitimate baby and is accused of infanticide. She is hung and her body taken to be dissected for the advancement of medical science. But as her body lies cold on the table before the assembled physicians, a rattle is heard in her throat and her eyelids are seen to flicker – is she still alive?

A dual narrative tells us the story of Anne’s experience and that of Robert Matthews, an Oxford scholar present to observe the dissection of her body. You cannot come away from this one without feeling a deep sympathy for Anne, taken in as she was by the empty promises of her employer’s Grandson, frightened and alone. After her revival, Anne’s fame was spread through the publication of pamphlets – a tale such as hers, one of fornication and murder, would be a best seller. Over three hundred years later not much has changed! A truly fascinating read from an established children’s author.

Is there anybody there?

The Seance by John Harwood

Jonathan Cape 2008, 304 pages

Constance Langton is a young girl growing up in Victorian London. When her sister dies in infancy, leaving their mother distraught and stricken with grief, Constance seeks to provide comfort from the other side, taking her to a seance with terrible consequences. Now alone and virtually friendless, Constance learns that she has inherited a mansion in Suffolk – the sinister Wraxford Hall – and along with it, the mystery of a family who have vanished; it is a mystery she knows she must solve.

What takes place in this superbly gothic novel is related to us by three narratives shifting forwards and backwards in time. The atmospheric setting permeates the pages and I was with Constance all the way as she sought to unravel the mystery surrounding the Hall and the Wraxford family. Reading this book should not cause you to lose any sleep (unless you are staying up late to finish it). Even so, it’s a spookily entertaining read that is perfect for a weekend in by the fire.

Watch the birdie

Out of a Clear Sky by Sally Hinchcliffe

Macmillan 2008, 304 pages

When Manda’s boyfriend leaves her for someone else, she takes refuge in birdwatching – the hobby introduced to her by her ex. The birds seem to ease her feelings of loneliness but it soon becomes apparent that while she is watching them, someone else is watching her. As the harassment escalates details of Manda’s troubled family history begin to emerge, and not knowing who to trust, she takes flight.

The chapters of this book are each named after a different bird species and details of that bird’s behaviour are woven into the story. The blurb says “an unsettling psychological thriller which will grip you to the startling, unforeseen end.” Not wishing to appear a clever clogs, I spotted the decoy but even so I stayed up until the small hours in order to finish it. You don’t need to be Bill Oddie to enjoy this, but it could turn you into a twitcher!

For anyone who’s interested, the sparrow was made by Hands On Ceramics and this is the link to their website: http://www.handsonceramics.com

The way we were

When I forgot by Elina Hirvonen

Translated by Douglas Robinson

Portobello Books 2007, 180 pages

Anna Louhiniitty is drinking coffee in a Helsinki cafe, putting off the visit she knows must be made to her brother Joona, an in-patient in a mental hospital. As she sits, she remembers fragments of her blighted childhood and her struggle to help her brother before his illness was diagnosed.

Elina Hirvonen is a film maker and journalist; When I Forgot, her first book, has become the most translated novel in Finnish history. This modest volume is a reflection on the impact mental illness has on a family, of the comfort and curse of what we remember and it would seem fitting that its setting is a country with one of the highest suicide rates in Europe.