PositiveNB (UK)I learnt a lot about the history and politics of this area of America and although some incidents are real there are imagined scenes which involve specific characters to add to the drama—but do not distract from the plot ... As a mother, Violeta has faults which she honestly describes. Some of the most heart wrenching pages with tragedy and wonderful dialogue cover huge family experiences with her son and daughter ... This is a detailed sweeping book. Sometimes I do admit I felt a bit confused by the numerous introduction of characters and in this case a list at the beginning by the publishers may well have helped readers. But as a personal read it was immersive and I travelled beside Violeta through a life well lived if not perhaps with mistakes of her own making. I think fans of Allende will lap up this novel and for lovers of epic family sagas perhaps in a different continent with the edge of real-life incidents this will interesting to book groups.
Rachel Donohue
RaveNB (UK)Through the alternating narratives the author gradually ratchets up the tension in an impressively well-controlled way. It is this gradual building up of the complexities of the plot, and the slowly emerging insights into her characters’ personalities and motivations, which made this such a compelling read for me. Each time I began to feel confident that I knew the direction the story was taking, she would introduce unexpected, yet entirely credible, twists which would force me to re-think my assumptions! Her skill at doing this certainly did much to contribute to the psychological authenticity of the story, something which was reinforced by the brilliant epilogue ... This is a hauntingly atmospheric, reflective and, at times, deeply sad and disturbing story and is one which I found almost impossible to put down. As a debut novel, it is particularly impressive so I’ll be looking forward to whatever Rachel Donohue writes next.
Harriet Tyce
RaveNBWith its multiple strands, its constant twists and turns and its excellent characterisations, I found this a compelling, disturbing and, for the most part, convincing story. I admired the way in which the author controlled the drip-feed of information and, with constant twists and turns, gradually revealed the web of secrets and lies which underpinned the tight plotting of the story. From the start it was clear that no one was quite what they seemed and that nothing could be taken for granted. This meant that an ever-increasing tension was created, adding a disturbing and relentless quality to the story-telling. It would be comfortable to think that her portrayals of the over-privileged school-gate mothers were caricatures but I found them all too easily recognisable! She convincingly captured the toxic nature of the ultra-competitiveness of some of these mothers and their willingness to use their daughters as pawns to be manipulated in the pursuit of personal aspirations. There were many moments when I found myself feeling angry and indignant about the power they were able to exert to exclude and undermine anyone who didn’t fit the ‘norms’ of their clique. Fortunately, there were also moments of delicious, almost farce-like humour, when the author lampooned her characters’ behaviour! ... a chilling, quite brilliant final twist.
Ayad Akhtar
RaveNB... the author’s observations felt not only unsparingly honest, but also disturbingly recognisable. Even if not everything described had been experienced by the author, it felt without doubt that they had happened to someone and that underpinned the story with a disturbing authenticity ... Throughout the story the author’s prose is supremely eloquent, passionate and thought-provoking. Although it’s immediately engaging, compelling and page-turning in its intensity, nevertheless, as I was reading I found myself needing to stop frequently, either to think about something which I found challenged me to think about something in a different way, or just to re-read a section which so clearly and precisely captured what had led to a particular moment in history ... By the time I’d finished reading I felt that I’d seen not only into the heart and soul of the narrator’s life, his struggles with identity and how to present himself to a world which viewed him with suspicion, but also into the heart and soul of a nation, and a world, which has lost its moral compass and was so profoundly changed by 9/11. This is such an insightful, challenging and thought-provoking story (although it does also contain some very humorous moments!) that it feels impossible to encapsulate its complexity in a short review. What I can do is urge you to read it and discover for yourself the insights this story offers.
Andrew Michael Hurley
RaveNudgeTold in flashbacks this story captures the claustrophobic nature of small, insular communities where people are steeped in tradition and ritual ... Andrew Hurley is a master at making his readers question their skeptical certainties! He is equally adept at evoking a powerful sense of time and place by using well-chosen words to capture a way of life which depends on people feeling as hefted to their community and way of life as their sheep are to their moorland territory ... Having read and enjoyed Andrew Michael Hurley’s remarkable debut novel, The Loney (winner of the 2015 Costa First Novel Award), I had wondered whether his second novel could possibly live up to my hopes and expectations. However, I need not have feared because Devil’s Day is equally powerful and engaging—in fact I think it is an even better one! I found that each one of his characters was immediately convincing because he succeeded in portraying their endless struggles to live with the precarious nature of their environment. His unsentimental descriptions of the frequently cruel and bloody nature of farming and country life added depth and authenticity to his descriptions of their lives ... I really appreciate the elegance and the literary quality of his writing and the fact that he makes every word count in his story-telling, with not one description feeling superfluous.
