Truth Games
Caroline England
Today’s #RecommendedRead is something a little different for me. Having read a number of police procedurals and thrillers over the past few weeks, I was looking for something with a different pace and less structure, and so I jumped at the chance to read a copy of Caroline England’s domestic psychological thriller.
I will say from the outset, that this is a masterclass in slow-burn plotting.
The protagonist of the book is Ellie, a mother of three living in suburban Greater Manchester. All we know, when the book opens is that something happened almost twenty years previously during a stoned game of truth or dare in a student house in Leeds…
Ellie’s story slowly unfolds in the present day as events in her somewhat humdrum domestic existence are interspersed with hidden memories of a confusing childhood, flashbacks to her traumatic student days and muddled night terrors.
Her relationships with her parents, her partner, and the collection of friends and former flatmates that remain part of her social circle are all re-examined. The description of modern family life is rendered expertly, with a forensic eye for detail; everything feels plausible and somehow grounded.
But the real skill in this book is the way in which tiny clues are seeded throughout the book. What really happened back then? What is really happening today? With this sort of slowly unfolding story, the reader has time to think about what they suspect really took place and try to second guess what the next revelation will be, or the real explanation behind strange events – yet time and time again, England confounded my predictions.
The truth when it is finally revealed is shocking, yet all the evidence was there and it all adds up. The final denouement is fiendish.
I will say from the outset, that this is a masterclass in slow-burn plotting.
The protagonist of the book is Ellie, a mother of three living in suburban Greater Manchester. All we know, when the book opens is that something happened almost twenty years previously during a stoned game of truth or dare in a student house in Leeds…
Ellie’s story slowly unfolds in the present day as events in her somewhat humdrum domestic existence are interspersed with hidden memories of a confusing childhood, flashbacks to her traumatic student days and muddled night terrors.
Her relationships with her parents, her partner, and the collection of friends and former flatmates that remain part of her social circle are all re-examined. The description of modern family life is rendered expertly, with a forensic eye for detail; everything feels plausible and somehow grounded.
But the real skill in this book is the way in which tiny clues are seeded throughout the book. What really happened back then? What is really happening today? With this sort of slowly unfolding story, the reader has time to think about what they suspect really took place and try to second guess what the next revelation will be, or the real explanation behind strange events – yet time and time again, England confounded my predictions.
The truth when it is finally revealed is shocking, yet all the evidence was there and it all adds up. The final denouement is fiendish.
This was my first Caroline England novel, but reading through the comments from other authors, I can see why she is so highly regarded.
I highly recommend this.
