This novel takes the term ‘domestic thriller’ to a whole new level! We meet
Nikki and Ethan (a breakfast show DJ) who live in a large period house in
London with their daughter Bella. On the outside they might seem like they
have everything, but the family are recovering from a terrible tragedy.
Bella had an identical twin killed in a road accident and ever since
witnessing the tragedy Bella has been unable to speak, only communicating
through her tablet. The family are supported by their housekeeper Sofia,
who is much more than an employee. When they decide it’s time to move house,
they feel they’ve found a unique place to live at 17 Church Row.
Architect designed, the house seems to anticipate their needs before they know
them. The house’s built in communication system ‘Alice’ is like Alexa on acid.
There’s no door handle, the door opens automatically and they meet the home’s
creator Catriona. She explains that the system represents a complete lifestyle
change. Alice brews coffee as they get up, reminds them of their to do list
for the day, monitors each room and enables Bella to access her private garden
, she orders their food and makes phone calls on their behalf. I immediately
found this claustrophobic and wondered what happens when the system malfunctions
? What if they can’t leave the house? Or Alice misjudges their bath temperature
and scalds them? I felt constantly on edge from here waiting for the first
thing to go wrong. Sofia is as suspicious as me, choosing to make her own coffee
and treating Alice with mild disdain. She thinks she’s rude for jumping into
private conversations.
The family have a few little teething problems: the koi in Bella’s fishpond
are found dead one morning; Nikki thinks she hears her dead daughter’s voice
in the night and gets locked in the gym with no light and the system down.
Then Sofia has an accident by the basement swimming pool and ends up in hospital
. Was this an accident or another household glitch? The author drip feeds little
details to unnerve the reader. The way Alice accesses their family videos
to create a more authentic voice for Bella felt very creepy, especially when
she suddenly laughs after months of silence. She also jumps in with Nikki,
ringing people on her behalf without asking and almost gaslighting her by copying
emotions and incorporating them into her speech. Only Ethan seems completely
at ease in the new house. When Sofia’s accident happens I’m sure there is a
plot brewing and the narrative interspersed with the chapters from Katy adds
to the intrigue and I kept trying to work out where it fit in,
I will not spoil the plot any further, but it will admit that it gave me nightmares
! My other half had to keep waking me up because I was convinced there was a
presence in the house and kept moaning in my sleep. I think this was written
with so much tension that I binged and then had to take a break. Had Alice
been monitoring me my heart rate would have been through the roof! Paramedics
would have been at the door. Brilliant, page turning, family dynamics with
a very sinister villain.
No comments:
Post a Comment