The Hourglass by
Julie Parsons
pbk out September 06
(Pan)
at £6.99
A lovely house in rural Ireland, an elderly lady living there alone, an attractive
young man recently out of prison – and many, many secrets. Julie Parsons'
fifth novel is simply bursting with mysteries and some very shady past
histories, and hardly anybody is who she or he seems.
For example, who is the young ex-prisoner and why is he so determined to
ingratiate himself with Lydia Beauchamp, the lonely owner of Trawbawn
House? Adam is his name, and he knows far more than Lydia can ever guess
about her, her family and her history. More too, in general, than the reader
does and as the story unfolds there are some real shocks. Lydia is estranged
from her daughter Grace, and while we know that this has its roots in Grace's
giving up for adoption the baby she had as a teenager it soon becomes clear
that there are other issues between the two women. Grace is harbouring a
secret, Lydia too, and as both women are portrayed with varying degrees of
sympathy the truth when it comes out is all the more dismaying.
But while the women are fundamentally decent people (although Lydia is
certainly flawed), Adam Smyth is pure distilled evil – and what a dreadful
mistake Lydia has made in asking him to find Grace. The pointers are there
right from the start, but the menace, depravity and corruption which make up
his character could not have been predicted – and if there is one criticism of
this book it is that the basic reasons for his monstrousness are not completely
clear.
From the first page this was going to be a good and gripping read, but Julie
Parsons uses all the standard techniques of the modern psychological thriller
and then piles on layers of complication and subversion. While some aspects
of the premise and the plot are not groundbreaking, the complexity of the
relationships and the often startling motives make this an enthralling novel.
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The Hourglass by
Julie Parsons
