Stephanie Jane recenzis The Memories We Bury de H A Leuschel
An intense psychological thriller
4 steloj
The Memories We Bury is the third of H A Leuschel's books that I have read and the first full length novel after her novella, My Sweet Friend, and the short story collection, Manipulated Lives. The Memories We Bury is a pretty intense psychological thriller written from the dual perspectives of new mother, Lizzie, and her elderly neighbour, Morag. I hadn't realised that a baby would play such a prominent role in the story so, at the beginning, I was concerned that the narrative might stray too far into cutesy territory for my tastes, but happily that wasn't the case! Instead I was treated to what almost becomes a tactical duel between Lizzie and Morag, each of whom are convinced of their own truths, and we readers must decide for ourselves with which woman to side. It's a great 'unreliable narrator' setup which reminded me of Jane Cable's The Faerie …
The Memories We Bury is the third of H A Leuschel's books that I have read and the first full length novel after her novella, My Sweet Friend, and the short story collection, Manipulated Lives. The Memories We Bury is a pretty intense psychological thriller written from the dual perspectives of new mother, Lizzie, and her elderly neighbour, Morag. I hadn't realised that a baby would play such a prominent role in the story so, at the beginning, I was concerned that the narrative might stray too far into cutesy territory for my tastes, but happily that wasn't the case! Instead I was treated to what almost becomes a tactical duel between Lizzie and Morag, each of whom are convinced of their own truths, and we readers must decide for ourselves with which woman to side. It's a great 'unreliable narrator' setup which reminded me of Jane Cable's The Faerie Tree. If you loved that novel, you may well also enjoy this one!
I liked the unnerving atmosphere that builds gradually through each scene in The Memories We Bury. The tension kept me turning the pages, eager to find out how Lizzie and Morag could possibly extricate themselves from this web and whether Markus and baby Jamie would also last the course. The contrast achieved by having these extreme characters in such everyday settings as a garden centre cafe is nicely done and I appreciated seeing how Lizzie and Morag differed in their interactions with other friends. This often added to my feelings of foreboding as I picked up on subtle - and less subtle - warnings.
Leuschel excels in creating psychologically damaged and manipulative characters who are fully rounded people and utterly believable. There's no cartoonish villainy here, quite the opposite in fact because I came to clearly understand why each woman behaved as she did and the historical motivations that drove both their behaviours. I frequently found my sympathies swinging from one to the other as I learned more about them. Leuschel really does have a wonderful understanding of human nature!