‘We adjusted to the absence. Forgot it altogether.’
This isn’t true, although it sometimes is, in this brooding mystery that flirts with the supernatural but ultimately refuses to commit to any definitive line.
What’s it about?
After twenty years of friendship, Jim is looking forward to spending the summer with his wife, children and oldest friends in the ramshackle house he owns on the Massachusetts coast. Or is he?
Bruce, the least sociable member of the six person group, is joining them for the first time in what seems to be a long time, but he brings with him a certain discomfort and a wealth of judgement. When he disappears without warning, the group are surprised but, perhaps, pleased: now they can relax and enjoy their holiday.
Meanwhile, a series of break-ins by teenagers are causing disquiet on the coast and in the town. How is this connected to the creeping disquiet Jim feels at Buzzards Bay?
Then a stranger arrives and insinuates herself into the group, suggesting a séance. Who is she really and what does she hope to uncover? Slowly, her presence begins to weaken the precarious ties between the group.
What’s it like?
Atmospheric. Puzzling, from the beginning, when the family arrive first to the property to discover it has been broken into and have very different responses: Valentina seems supremely unbothered, but Jim sits on the porch, apparently all night, holding a harpoon. Despite this seemingly protective stance, his feelings are unclear, his actions apparently motiveless.
‘How exactly it ended up in our house, or why I went to retrieve it that night, I couldn’t say.’
This encapsulates Jim entirely. He seems to operate without real purpose or passion, yet a sense of unease permeates the book, from various narrative gaps. What exactly happened to Jim’s parents? Why did Bruce want to know about the legal concept of collective guilt? What did the ringleader of the teenagers want?
‘We’re always complicit. That’s the beauty of the human condition, socially…It depends only on whether you’re caught.’
Bruce seems to be hiding a secret, which adds to the tension, as does the opaque nature of the stranger’s motives, and I looked forward to having these threads resolved. I wanted to find out what lay underneath everything: the robberies, Jim’s strangely detached attitude, the séance and the stranger. Unfortunately for me, Murphy prefers to keep much of the mystery just that!
Final thoughts
Throughout Murphy creates a strong sense that something mysterious is afoot, but there were too many threads left unfinished or ambiguous for my liking. Personally, I prefer more i’s crossed and t’s dotted. Other readers may enjoy the ultimate ambiguity.
I also questioned the inclusion of Jim’s children, who he seems to have absolutely minimal contact with – despite apparently being their main caregiver – and who I’m not sure are ever even named. Perhaps Murphy felt it explained the continuing relationship between Valentina, who he establishes is successful, career driven and interesting, and Jim, who feels that he is lucky to be allowed in her breathing space but seems to have no real desire to spend time with her. In fact, Jim was so hands off with life that I wondered whether there was going to be a Sixth Sense style twist.
Overall, this is definitely mysterious and atmospheric, but I personally would have preferred more of those mysteries to be resolved.
