โ Scribed by Matt Haig
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
By the author of *Reasons to Stay Alive*
Terence Cave, the intellectual owner of Cave Antiques, has already experienced the tragedies of his mother's suicide and his wife's murder when his teenage son, Reuben, is killed in a grotesque accident. His remaining child, Bryony, has always been the family's golden girl, in love with her cello and her pony, and Terence comes to realise that his one duty in life is to protect her from the world's malign forces, whatever that may take.
But as he starts to follow his grieving daughter's movements and enforce a draconian set of rules, his love for Bryony becomes a possessive force that leads to destruction and, ultimately, murder.
**
Could it have been that the desire to protect is the desire to possess? wonders antiques dealer Terence Cave in Haigs overwrought study of a father creepily bent on protecting his beautiful 15-year-old daughter, Byrony. Beset by tragedyhis wife was murdered and, later, Byronys twin, Reuben, was accidentally killed by bulliesTerence focuses all his energy on Byrony, but when she begins sneaking out to meet boys, Terences stepped-up efforts to thwart her behavior backfire, and soon shes seeing one of the boys involved in Reubens death. As Terences drive to protect rapidly morphs into a dangerous obsession, his dead sons spirit begins to haunt him, and Bryony pulls further away from her weird, creepy fascist father. The themes of possession and control are pounded out repeatedly, and Terence seems like a construct more than a person, coming off as repellant rather than complex and troubled. What could have been an original look at human relationships unfortunately devolves into a heavy-handed study. (Mar.)
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
"Haig has hit upon a good idea structuring this as an open letter" Metro "A compelling book; a page-turner in the best sense of the word, in that most suspense comes from character" -- John Burnside Guardian "Anyone who has experienced the loss of someone they love will try to relate to the tricks the mind can play as they try to make sense of what has happened. A story I couldn't put down" Essentials "A devastating portrait of one man's relentless self-destruction" The Times
Library : General
Formats : EPUB
ISBN : 9781407015910
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
FROM THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR -- But as he starts to follow his grieving daughter's movements and enforce a draconian set of rules, his love for Bryony becomes a possessive force that leads to destruction.
**A "chilling, riveting, heartbreaking" (*The New York Times Book Review*) novel of parental turmoil, from Matt Haig, the author of *How to Stop Time.*** The charm of acclaimed fiction writer Matt Haig's previous novels, *The Dead Fathers Club* and *The Labrador Pact*, gives way to terrifying psy
**An intimate, intense and beautifully realised novel of possession, power and the liberating loss of innocence, this will delight fans of MISTER PIP and THE POISONWOOD BIBLE.** **Oceania, 1879.** For two years the Peacocks, a determined family of settlers, have struggled to make a remote volcani
**An intimate, intense and beautifully realised novel of possession, power and the liberating loss of innocence, this will delight fans of MISTER PIP and THE POISONWOOD BIBLE.** **Oceania, 1879.** For two years the Peacocks, a determined family of settlers, have struggled to make a remote volcani
Richard Sherlock would rather be on the receiving end of a wealthy charity instead of in the middle of investigating the missing millions from one wealthy donor, but, as usual, he has no choice. The last thing Richmond Insurance wants to do is pay out on a six-million-dollar claim. Sherlock is thr