47 The Winter People by Grainne Murphy
It’s taken me ages to read this, because it is so very, very miserable. I still wanted to know what happened to the three main characters but I couldn’t face it at my usual reading time of just before bed. Or bring down a sunny afternoon with it. Or use it to take me out of 3am insomnia.
It’s beautifully written, which is what made me determined not to DNF it, but fuck me, it’s sad!
Sis is an old lady reminiscing about her life and facing a traumatic event that wasn’t her doing. Lydia sits a prisoner in her refurbished ‘holiday’ home, having caused a traumatic event which has rendered her a bit of an alky hermit. Peter looks back on his early life and farming foster family - I liked his ‘voice’ the best tbh. The sea sweeps in and out, uncaring. Lilting Irish colloquialisms litter the prose like seashells.
48 The Path Of Thorns by AG Slatter.
In contrast, I had to make myself ration this gorgeous slice of fantasy so it wasn’t over too soon. Set in a well-drawn fictional world (Sourdough - name should annoy me as twee, but it strangely doesn’t), it has echoes of Angela Carter, carrying as it does, tales within tales.
Asher Todd arrives at the Morwood Grange estate, followed up the drive by something, just to whet the reader’s appetite for a gothic tale of a governess in peril. However, it would be unwise to assume this is a straightforward A Stranger Arrives In Town plot, because Asher slowly reveals herself to be very familiar with the Morwoods and not in a sympathetic way.
There’s nothing new in the characters, but all are given a delicious twist. There are delightful touches of arch humour and some shiversome necromancy. The ending isn’t tied up in a neat little bow either, without being an obvious set up for a sequel. I do hope to make Asher Todd’s acquaintance again in the future.
I have read a lot of AG / Angela Slatter’s short stories in anthologies over the years and her storytelling skills transfer well to the novel format.