Author: Kathy George
Publisher: HQ Fiction
Publication Date: 3 February 2021
Pages: 400
Format: eBook - PDF
Genre: Australian Gothic
Source: ARC via NetGalley
An empty house, a lonely shore, an enigmatic, brooding man-child waiting for her return ... a trip to the dark lands of Australian Gothic, for readers of Kate Morton and Hannah Richell.
Last night I dreamt I went to Sargasso again ...
As a child, Hannah lived at Sargasso, the isolated beachside home designed by her father, a brilliant architect. A lonely, introverted child, she wanted no company but that of Flint, the enigmatic boy who no one else ever saw ... and who promised he would always look after her.
Hannah's idyllic childhood at Sargasso ended in tragedy, but now as an adult she is back to renovate the house, which she has inherited from her grandmother. Her boyfriend Tristan visits regularly but then, amid a series of uncanny incidents, Flint reappears ... and as his possessiveness grows, Hannah's hold on the world begins to lapse. What is real and what is imaginary, or from beyond the grave?
A mesmerising Australian novel that echoes the great Gothic stories of love and hate: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and especially Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
Sargasso was a captivating read. There was a great sense of atmosphere about the tale which moved between past and present to tell its story. Certainly there were plenty of links with Wuthering Heights, though I found the Rebecca ones less obvious. I saw the twist in the story coming a mile away, so the final reveal wasn't much of a climax for me; however, that didn't stop me enjoying the book overall. This was my first time reading an Australian-set Gothic novel, but the fact it was a modern building rather than an old house/castle didn't detract from the heavy atmosphere George created in her prose. In conclusion, although parts of the story were a little more obvious than I would have liked, I found Sargasso an engaging story and I would recommend it to fans of Gothic literature.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
No comments:
Post a Comment