As soon a I read that Jenny Lund Madsen is an acclaimed scriptwriter – her work includes the international hit, Follow the Money, which is one of my favourites – I knew I was in for a treat with her début literary thriller, Thirty Days of Darkness translated by Megan E. Turney. Indeed Thirty Days of Darkness won the Harald Mogensen Prize for Best Danish Crime Novel of the year and was shortlisted for the coveted Glass Key Award.
This novel is a dark but sometimes humorous narrative following the trials of Danish literary novelist Hannah Krause-Bendix who, having taken up the challenge to write a popular crime novel in a month, finds herself in a small town in Iceland where two days after her arrival a murder takes place – or at least a suspicious death. The victim is the nephew of her host, Ella, who speaks neither Danish or English but manages to communicate a little via writing the latter – after a fashion. The limited hours of of daylight and the haunting landscape play a major role in creating mood and motivation.
Never having had a bad review for her literary works, and contemptuous of genre fiction, Hannah searches desperately for a plot. Could she use the unfolding drama in the small town? Maybe if she follows the clues it will inspire her? She gives little thought to the sensitivities of those involved and if she were staying in an Airbnb should wouldn’t receive any accolades as a guest. Ella is amazingly forgiving until Hannah breaks into her host’s locked study! What was she thinking? Actually she was looking for alcohol – something she relies on more than she’d care to admit.
In fact her quest for drinks leads her to the “local” where she meets to local police officer (the town only has one), Viktor and then his wife. The bar owner is a source of the town’s recent history and the personalities involved. But another regular, an enigmatic woman with a slobbering dog is less forthcoming. Hannah is determined to discover the truth about what happened and her sense of superiority makes her impervious to reason thus putting herself and others at risk.
Jenny Lund Madsen has created a spider’s web of a plot that leaves her rather unlikeable protagonist at risk. Hannah does have some redeeming features as you will discover as the author plays with our expectations and pulls the strings of our emotions. As the plot gathers momentum and the dangers accumulate, the breathtaking dénouement of what is the first in a series, is explosive. I’m intrigued to know what Hannah does next.
Thirty Days of Darkness is published by Orenda Books and is available online and from bookshops.
I was fascinated by Exquisite (Orenda Books) by Sarah Stovell. The novel centres on the affair which develops between Bo Luxton, a best selling author who is married with two children living in the Lake District and Alice Dark a young aspiring writer in a dead end job and relationship in Brighton. They meet at a workshop run by Bo and their friendship develops via emails and then Alice’s visits to the author. The story is brilliantly told from both viewpoints and both characters are unreliable in their narration. Totally absorbing .
In The Cruelty of Lambs (Urbane Publications) Angelena Boden tackles the complicated issue of domestic abuse. Her main characters – Ian and Una – are well drawn and the plot moves along at a cracking pace. The narrative switches from Ian, a cellist who lost his teaching job when wrongly accused of inappropriate behaviour, to Una, a high-flyer who stands to lose the business she built up. Financial ruin faces them but their reactions couldn’t be more different. The supporting characters – friends of the couple who become entangled in the situation – are realistic and their concerns are credible. A thought-provoking and often disturbing read which challenges your preconceptions.
If you like a sexy and mature romantic read, you’ll love Seeking Eden by Beverley Harvey (Urbane Publications). Kate and Neil decide to move out of London after they are burgled and settle into a new, up-market housing estate. But Neil’s job is still in the capital and he spends some of the week staying over at a friend’s flat leaving Kate to her own devices and her new neighbours and Ben – the boyfriend who had walked out on her years ago and now wants to rekindle their relationship… A good contemporary read with well-drawn characters.
One of my favourite recent reads is My Name is Lucy Barton (Penguin), my first foray into Elizabeth Strout’s fiction. I love a first person narrative when it’s told well, and this one is perfection told by Lucy Barton, from her hospital bed, reminiscing about her family and their poverty, which isolated them from the community where they lived. Lucy moved up in the world and became estranged from her parents but it is her mother’s unexpected vigil in the hospital room that helps Lucy reassess her past and move towards a different future. A short but totally absorbing read.
Having read Sealskin, I can only describe the experience as what I imagine it would be like to be a selkie slipping back into my seal skin – the feeling of coming home, warmth and unbounded joy in a narrative that is perfectly constructed and beautifully written.
In Sealskin relationships are explored with perceptiveness and the evocation of the small Scottish fishing community with its diverse characters from wise women to drunken men who treat their wives badly while others look on. The children’s personalities are equally well developed. By the end of the book each character is seen in a different light.