I read a couple of Lambert's books last year and was impressed enough to buy more, including this one.
Carol Foxe's mother was murdered by her father when she was only 13. She was sent to live with her aunt and uncle (and cousin Nicholas) above a pub in a small village, much against her aunt's wishes. Her uncle Joszef is much nicer though and her relationship with her cousin, though it starts on shaky ground, solidifies into a real friendship.
The novel operates on two timelines, one in her painful childhood, and the other in a more current day setting. She is now living with Joszef and working in a refugee camp on the Italian coast. When she pulls a young teenage girl from the sea, she forms an obsession, and her carefully structured life starts to crumble around her again, just like it did in her teens.
This is the first real contender this year for my book of the year. Lambert's prose is cool and sparse, telling us just enough that we can guess the rest. There are subtly disturbing undertones throughout.
The slow build of her damaging obsession with saving the girl is masterfully done. The reveal of the secrets of her past is just as good.
I'm struggling to think of any negative points about this book. Some may find her relationship with Joey in the modern segments to be uncomfortable, but that's deliberately so. Despite this not being a horror novel, there's a definite sense of unease that oozes from the pages.
This is certainly the best book of the year so far. I recommend it unreservedly.
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