A Voice in the Night

I received an ARC copy of 'A Voice in the Night', by Sarah Hawthorn, and thoroughly enjoyed this pacey, psychological thriller. The protagonist, Lucie, takes us on a frightening journey as a past lover, Martin, who she met twenty years ago as a young intern in New York, contacts her with the words, 'At last, I've found you ...' The problem is, her lover is presumed dead in the collapse of the Twin Towers on 9/11. Did Martin survive and/or fake his death? Does someone know enough about their relationship to spook her? Or is her unease, a figment of her imagination?

 Part of the narrative explores the New York story, part is set in Sydney, her hometown, with the majority taking place in London where she now works in a high-pressured legal firm. With a cast of male characters under suspicion, can Lucie make sense of the increasingly disturbing events occurring in her life and unmask her tormentor? Or, despite all the evidence, is Martin still alive? In answering that question, she discovers he had secrets of his own.

 This is a complex story written with skill. The time and location shifts are smooth, the characters interesting and rounded. I liked the authors writing style, which complimented Lucie's personality perfectly. The author hasn't shied away from writing Lucie as a thoroughly modern woman with career and personal challenges who, during the final twists and turns of the plot - unexpected and shocking - proves she's a force to be reckoned with.

 Highly recommended.

Review by Diane Clarke

The Dilemma

The title of this book goes to the heart of the main story about Arcadia Fanstone, a women who faced an impossible decision forcing her - and others - to lie, believing such action was the only solution to her problem. She is not the first person in her family to cover-up the truth and so themes and warnings emerge concerning the danger of secrets and their long-term effects, even if they are seemingly kept for the best of reasons.

It is these secrets that Esme Fanstone, Arcadia’s daughter, uncovers over the course of the novel, prompted by a mysterious letter sent to her mother from Guernsey in 1945, concerning the fate of ‘C’. Esme discovers the letter as she clears Arcadia’s flat, following her death in 1958. Esme has never been close to her mother, a woman who she remembers as absent and self-absorbed.

The letter piques Esme’s interest and so, in pursuit of ‘C’ and ‘M’, the author of the letter, she travels to Guernsey. The island is beautifully described and its war time history, as the only part of the United Kingdom to be occupied during WWII, is well researched. Esme is helped and hindered by an array of islanders as she seeks to unravel the identities of ‘M’ and ‘C’, uncovering a curious crime that becomes an important element of the story. Despite red herrings and numerous misunderstandings, Esme achieves far more than she ever expected in terms of family, romance and her perceptions about her mother, Arcadia.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable historical mystery that challenges the reader to consider what they would have done if faced with a similar dilemma, one that may have faced other women during those turbulent wartime years.

Review by Diane Clarke