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Welcome

I started this blog in 2013 to share my reflections on reading, writing and psychology, along with my journey to become a published novelist.​  I soon graduated to about twenty book reviews a month and a weekly 99-word story. Ten years later, I've transferred my writing / publication updates to my new website but will continue here with occasional reviews and flash fiction pieces, and maybe the odd personal post.

ANNE GOODWIN'S WRITING NEWS

An unexplained death in the family: Sea of Bones & The Lost Man

25/6/2019

4 Comments

 
Two gripping novels that begin with an unexpected death in the family: in the first, set in Scotland, it’s the main character’s niece; in the second, set in Australia, it’s the protagonist’s brother. In both cases, the evidence points to suicide, until the deceased’s relatives start poking around. Both protagonists discover more than they bargained for but nevertheless benefit from confronting the truth. Both novels are also about male violence and sibling rivalry.

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Sea of Bones by Deborah O’Donoghue

On election day, Juliet, the power behind the Progressive Alliance party is literally and metaphorically miles from parliament, up in Inverness at the funeral of her twenty-something niece. Even if she weren’t otherwise engaged with family matters there’d be little she could do to salvage the reputation of the party leader, recently exposed in the tabloids for her affair with a married man.
 
After the funeral, her partner Declan returns to London while Juliet stays on in Scotland, partly to support her twin sister, Erica, and partly to clear out the summerhouse where Beth had been living until she went missing and her body was washed up on the beach. Juliet can’t accept the verdict of suicide but, when she questions the evidence, she’s afraid her suspicions will be dismissed as paranoia, her experience attributed to mental illness as her sister’s has so often been.
 
Deborah O’Donoghue’s debut novel is a sophisticated thriller cleverly weaving multiple psychological, social and political themes in a manner that’s both chilling and authentic. As someone who isn’t a fan of the genre because of the tendency for characters to put themselves too easily in jeopardy, I found this all too convincing. (Apart from Juliet’s phone calls from Erica’s psychiatrist, which weren’t a big feature of the plot.) It effortlessly encompasses mental health, twinship, childlessness, grief, trust, corruption, scandal, refugees, sexual offences with minors, investigative journalism, politics, vice and blackmail in an honest rather than box-ticking manner. I’m not sure how much I enjoyed it – the issues are too disturbing for that – but I did keep turning the page. Congratulations to Deborah and thanks to Legend Press for my review copy.


The Lost Man by Jane Harper

Two men meet up at an isolated gravestone a few hours’ drive from their homes in the Australian outback. They’re not concerned about the forgotten settler buried there a century earlier, but about their brother, Cameron, who seems to have spent the last few hours of his life circumnavigating the stone for its scant shade. His vehicle, parked on a rocky outcrop a few kilometres away, is in good repair and well-stocked with provisions, and there’s no sign of foul play. Why should Cameron, who’s grown up on the cattle farm he now manages and is well acquainted with the harshness of the climate, abandon safety and set out, without water, on foot?
 
Cameron’s death upsets more than the family Christmas, as everyone, from his mother to his five-year-old daughter, from the hired hand with the role of paterfamilias to the itinerant backpacker staff, tries to reconcile the man they thought they knew with the facts. The main focus is on the brothers: the younger, Bub, who still answers to the nickname they gave him as a baby, and is considered not too bright; and particularly the eldest, Nathan, divorced, in debt and persona non grata in the dispersed community for the past ten years.
 
I really enjoyed the gradual uncovering of Cameron’s secret, and the insight into the pressures of outback life. It’s extremely perceptive regarding the dynamics of dysfunctional families and the chess-board manoeuvres around but each person knows and/or assumes about the others.
 
I was aware of the buzz around Jane Harper’s two previous bestselling novels but, with a more peripheral role for the police in The Lost Man, I think this was the best place for me to start. Thanks to Abacus for my review copy.
 
I thought I’d pair these reviews with a reading from my short story collection, Becoming Someone.  Like both of these novels, “I Want Doesn’t Get” features sibling rivalry around a family funeral. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading. I'd love to know what you think. If you've enjoyed this post, you might like to sign up via the sidebar for regular email updates and/or my quarterly Newsletter.
4 Comments
Rosie Amber link
25/6/2019 08:37:59 am

I've recently been catching up and reading Jane Harpers books. I love the arid settings from The Lost Man and The Dry, but I've also read Force Of Nature set in a humid rain forest (posted on my blog today)

Reply
Anne Goodwin
25/6/2019 04:06:33 pm

Thanks for visiting, Rosie. This is the first of hers I've read. Will check out your review.

Reply
Norah Colvin
3/7/2019 11:57:29 am

What a long list of issues covered in Sea of Bones, Anne. It does sound rather disturbing, but compelling also. I think both of these sound like interesting reads. I'll add them to my list.

Reply
Anne Goodwin
6/7/2019 05:10:51 pm

Hurrah! Hope you enjoy the reads.

Reply

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