The Furies by Katie Lowe

It is said that the word 'furious' came from the three Greek goddesses of vengeance. They were known as The Furies and they were the Avengers of Greek mythology: a moral avenger of anger, an avenger of jealousy and an avenger of murder.

Before the story begins in this novel, there is a description of a dead school girl sitting upright on a swing, ankles neatly crossed as if she is still alive. Something here is not natural. Then the tale opens when a sixteen year old girl joins a public school, eager to settle in and make friends following a family tragedy.

This gothic psychological thriller is set entirely inside Elm Hollow Academy, an elite, private all-girls boarding school tucked away in a small, ancient coastal town in Lancashire, England. The narrative relies heavily on its historic, insular, and manicured environment. The school grounds, the old stone buildings, and the surrounding woods serve as a timeless backdrop where the characters become obsessed with the town's dark history of 17th-century witch trials.

Unfortunately it is almost half way through the book before anything significantly unusual or magic happens. Until then the first-person narrative takes us through first time experiences of parties, periods, drugs, drinking, vomiting and unsavoury teenage boys. Immensely tedious and slow, with several characters chewing their thumbnails and smiling weakly, I was tempted to stop reading as I was obviously too old for all this. Yawn.

None of the schoolmates are particularly likeable but one is very manipulative. There is a hint of something cult-like when the small group of four friends are signed up to extra artistic tuition by an art teacher. They are introduced to mythology and the occult.

And then - suddenly - everything changes. The Furies are summoned, there is an animal sacrifice. There is vengeance against individuals and men  generally, jealousy, anger, fear, validation and guilt. The story whirls through a hazy, drug-induced frenzy where boundaries between life and death are tested, the simple and naive party antics replaced by something more daring and sinister. The children have become adults.

​The writing too, has upped the tension, no more repeated phrases, pulling the reader on, challenging reality. At times disturbing, not just because of the murders but the anger and power that motivates these young women.

​Definitely a new writer with great potential. Recommended.

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Published by HarperCollins UK on 2 May 2019.
Advance review copy supplied by the publisher.

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