4 Stars
Andrew Michael Hurley returns with a hauntingly beautiful written novel of a couple shaken by the sudden death of her five year old son.
Juliette and Richard Willoughby were a happily married couple. They moved to a rural Yorkshire village into a house Richard inherited from his parents. Here, they think, or at least Juliette thinks, that this would be a much better environment for their little boy. But soon Richard gets obsessed by digging for the roots of an old tree on the field which belongs to his house. Their son Ewan, at first a lovely boy, begins to show signs of violence and there are some very upsetting events which he caused. He claims that he hears a voice which tells him to do those cruel things. After Ewan’s sudden deaths Juliette is absolutely devastated and can’t let go. An old friend tells her about a woman who can help people in her own special way. Richard is skeptical but wants to try everything to help Juliette with her grief. And indeed after this kind of séance Juliette begins to feel better. But that does not change things for the better after all.
Hurley has a gift for creating atmospheric books. He has a thing for English folklore and in all of his books he weaves some of it into it. I’ve read his two previous books and I liked especially “The Looney”. “Starve Acre” is a bit shorter than the other ones and that is a good thing. He keeps it nice and short here. He is not a master of suspense and his last book “Devil’s Day” was a bit too long and therefore a bit lengthy. Here the story feels just right. There are strange things going on in this little village and especially with Ewan. There are really some goose bump moments.
I am not so happy with the characters. Richard is a very boring guy and Juliette is horrible. Even before Ewan’s death she is an ignorant and controlling woman and Richard seems to have not much to say in their marriage. There is a scene with a psychiatrist in which she acts extremely weird. The story is also very mystical. Not everything is explained. It’s more left for your imagination. The ending is kind of strange and does not give you all the answers. But this is Andrew Michael Hurley’s style. I like the way he writes and creates a different kind of stories. I enjoyed reading this book although it was very strange. But maybe I just liked it because of that.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
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