30/10/2017 0 Comments The Loney by Andrew Michael HurleyHurley is a lovely writer. He has an original eye when it comes to imagery that doesn't jump out nor strain to be different (my favourite was the comparison between a dead man's eyes and mushrooms!). It was all as if he wasn't trying too hard. So much so that I wasn't sure what the point of the story was even when I was halfway through and frankly didn't care. I just wanted to read what he wrote. But that is not a criticism. I was involved with the two young boys' relationship and the new priest, the mother fixated on the security of religious ritual and the desolate place they chose to visit for their pilgrimage. The Loney is “a wild and useless length” of the northwest English coastline, not a site of happy childhood seaside holidays but nostalgia none the less for the narrator. I wanted to see what happened there, what it all was about, curiously eager for bedtime (reading time for me) rather than the frustration that lesser books bring. Some critics have complained about the amount of religion integral to the story, but it was an interesting angle to me, recognisable in part and reminded me of people I have known. I'm not sure how I would categorise this book. It is not the ghost story I was expecting although it is spookily atmospheric, gothic perhaps, has supernatural overtones with a great sense of place. I will have to think more on that. There is ambiguity in a way that made me think on after I had finished reading to discover the whole point of the tale and the concept of whether absolute truth exists. In conclusion, I have discovered a talented new voice and I hope he continues to produce such thoughtful, intelligent works. Brilliant debut novel. THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER. WINNER OF THE 2015 COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD. THE BRITISH BOOK AWARDS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2016. A brilliantly unsettling and atmospheric debut full of unnerving horror - 'The Loney is not just good, it's great. It's an amazing piece of fiction' Stephen King Also by Andrew Michael Hurley is Devil's Day. The Loney is available at Amazon and Waterstones and other good bookshops.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Books of the Month
Best Selling Psychological Fiction
Reviews by Year of PublicationAll 1844 1866 1889 1897 1932 1935 1942 1946 1950 1951 1953 1954 1960 1962 1969 1971 1974 1977 1978 1983 1984 1985 1989 1991 1994 1995 1996 1997 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 |
© Copyright 2012-2022 A.J. Sefton
|