One stormy night on Inishbannock, an eerily quiet island off the coast of Ireland, a woman with no memory wakes up in a coffin. Clawing herself out of the grave and into the night, the woman soon to be named Mara Fitch discovers that not everyone on the island welcomes her sudden return to life. Of course her return is not the only oddity; a sudden plague that killed only four people on the island, and was never reported to the mainland. The sudden disappearance of sheep in the night. Two brothers play cards for no stakes, the doctor seems to treat only the dead, the local pub owner speaks only in riddles, and the man who claims to be Mara’s husband has a house with no signs of her having ever lived there. As Mara starts trying to discover the secrets of who she is and why she woke up in that coffin, she soon realizes that the village doesn’t want her to remember, and they will do anything it takes to stop her from uncovering who she is….
This book went exactly (for the most part) exactly where I thought it would based on the cover and I absolutely love it for that. I know there is absolutely no way this story could in any reasonable or rational way be continued, but I loved it so much I’m sorry it won’t/can’t have a sequel. The writing was sharp and brilliant; Sharpson knows how to really stoke the feeling of dawning horror and dread, where you know what’s coming and you’re both excited and terrified to have it hit. I will say that a decent grasp on Irish mythology might be helpful, but isn’t necessarily mandatory to enjoy the story fully. The enrichment of the more commonly known folklore (and why did it never hit me how horrible it actually is?) is brilliant, and the lesser-known (or at least to me) creatures are making me thankful I didn’t read this book in Ireland; the ensuing nightmares I’d have I don’t need. (Seriously, the land of my maternal ancestors is a harsh, scary place.)
The thing you might need to fully understand the story though is either a grasp of Erse, or a good translator; there are parts of the book in Erse that Sharpson does not translate. I don’t think he should have, because it helps the story flow better, is probably more authentic, and it doesn’t kill anyone to research something, but it does need mentioning.
The story flips around through maybe seven or eight characters’ perspectives. The best of them has to be Mara; her fear and anger (mostly anger. So much anger.) makes her someone you can not look away from. Declan, the poet who is residing on Inishbannock due to an endowment and whose house Mara breaks into upon her return, is another likable character (even if he is a tad self-pitying). Natalie the bartender who helps them and Padraig, the pub owner’s son round up the list of likable characters. Everyone else to varying degrees are people who deserve their fates, though they all deserve them. Cian (the husband) and Grainne (the pub owner) most of all; actually, they probably deserve worse, but hey, at least they get something. To everyone excepting Mara, Declan, Natalie, and Padraig, I only have three things to say: “Tiger by the tail”? You vastly underestimate the danger, the mind games do not help your cases, and finally: do the positives really outweigh the negatives? Really, do they? Because Shakespeare has a saying about Hell and fury.
I would definitely recommend this book. It’s bloody, and slightly horrific, but the writing is brilliant (as I said) and story is engrossing. I’m just sorry I read it because I will now never again be able to read it for the first time. And in my opinion, that is a mark of a good book. Plus, there are few other books that will have a scene of a windstorm so bad it causes a wind turbine to uproot and go flying well over 50 miles away from its original position.
