A family with dark secrets. Shannon and Patrick married and divorced some years previously, having had one daughter, Neve, who later went to live in a remote part of wintery Scotland with her father. Patrick wants to give a party for Neve, now turning eighteen, and invites Shannon to visit from Australia.
Shannon came to confront Patrick about his former disturbing treatment of her and to persuade her daughter to return to Australia with her. But Patrick, a musician and bandleader, now living with Alison refuses to admit to his former behaviour. Alison, also wealthy, and a former scriptwriter, has become reclusive in this dark, cold house with its strange smells and rooms she doesn’t enter. Why has she left her mother’s bedroom untouched since her death? And why does Elixir, a neighbour’s son, befriend Neve and surreptitiously film Alison as she goes about the house?
The behaviour of this strange cast raises many questions, but the past certainly haunts them and has changed them. Could be a script for a rather spooky film.
Our group was divided in their responses to the book, but it certainly evoked a spirited discussion.
Next month’s book - Like Fire Hearted Suns by Melanie Joosten, Ultimo
Meg Dillon
Shannon came to confront Patrick about his former disturbing treatment of her and to persuade her daughter to return to Australia with her. But Patrick, a musician and bandleader, now living with Alison refuses to admit to his former behaviour. Alison, also wealthy, and a former scriptwriter, has become reclusive in this dark, cold house with its strange smells and rooms she doesn’t enter. Why has she left her mother’s bedroom untouched since her death? And why does Elixir, a neighbour’s son, befriend Neve and surreptitiously film Alison as she goes about the house?
The behaviour of this strange cast raises many questions, but the past certainly haunts them and has changed them. Could be a script for a rather spooky film.
Our group was divided in their responses to the book, but it certainly evoked a spirited discussion.
Next month’s book - Like Fire Hearted Suns by Melanie Joosten, Ultimo
Meg Dillon
