How wrong I was. Never did I expect that this book would turn out the way it did. But really, I can't say much here of what actually happens. It's one of those novels where there are so many fantastic wows that to give too much away would waste the effect. Honestly, I gasped and exclaimed my disbelief out loud at several points of reading this. It is that good. And the best part is that not all the twists and turns are set up, nor are they massively farfetched.
What I can actually tell you is that the novel is the memoir of protagonist Harriet Baxter. She writes the book from her London home in 1933 in an effort to set straight the horrible allegations that were made against her. Initially, she's introduced as a proper lady, though a spinister, who is fortune enough to spend her money as she will. She chooses to do this in Glasgow and becomes very attached to the whole Gillespie family. Really, Harriet seems quiet lonely, and it's good for her to make so many friends. Unfortunately, her relationship with the family becomes strained as the eldest daughter Sibyl begins behaving in some horrifying ways, and then the big thing that I dare not spoil happens and everything just becomes so awful and confused. Harriet is very elderly as she's writing her memoir, and though at first I was happy to trust every word that came from her pen, I began to be unsure of her character. She became, at parts, perhaps too friendly or needy. And, of course, writing about an event that happened around forty years previous doesn't make for the most reliable of writers.
By the end, I was spooked. Actually, I had no idea how to take any of the information that I'd be given throughout the novel. Probably a second reading would be an entirely different experience, and I'd be keeping an eye out for clues. What Harris has done here is very clever, and such a brilliant read. I haven't had the same thrill from a book in a while, and it was vastly enjoyable. Harris has created what seems at first a charming read, which then becomes quite chilling. And, if I'm honest, I rarely ever use the word 'chilling' to describe anything but the temperature. The book itself weighs in at 605 pages, but it flies by with its engaging excitement.
Really, I need to find some other people who've read this book to talk about all the very exciting bits, because it would be so unfair to potentially take anything away from a person coming to Gillespie and I for the first time. Go read it, and then we can talk.
Gillespie and I was part of this month's Scottish Book Talk reads. You can check out more info and a podcast by clicking here.
