The Long Fall by Julia Crouch


I have been a fan of Julia Crouch's work since I devoured her amazing debut Cuckoo a few years ago. Julia specializes in twisty, turny plots and characters that surprize until the last page.  The Long Fall is set in two time periods; 1980 and the present day. In 1980 we follow adventurous young traveler Emma as she sets off alone across Europe having just completed her A levels. In the present day we meet Kate a wealthy London banker's wife running a charity for African girls founded after the tragic death of her daughter Martha. When Kate is contacted by someone from her past it seems her secure world is about the collapse around her. Back in 1980 Emma's adventure has turned suddenly very dark and she heads to Greece escaping in a haze of drugs and alcohol. For Kate the return of her old friend and her daughter Tilly's plan to go travelling alone set her life off in an out control downward spiral of self destructive behaviour. So what is the connection between Emma and Kate and what does old friend Beattie want? This is a hard book to review as I don't want to reveal too much of the plot. However I can say that I sat down to start this book on a Friday evening thinking I'll read a few chapters and finish it tomorrow. Hah that did not happen I sat down started reading and I was immediately hooked. I didn't put the book down until I was finished. It is seriously addictive. When it comes to "domestic noir" which Julia defined in the previous post as "the things people do to each other in the name of love" then probably one of the most talked about books in this genre in recent years was Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, all I can say is that Julia writes Gillian under the table or perhaps off the page is a better analogy. Whether you loved Gone Girl and are looking for something even better or it irritated the hell out of you and you are looking for something even better than read this you won't be disappointed. Perfect for fans of Barbara Vine, Erin Kelly, Sophie Hannah and Claire McGowan. 

Comments

  1. Sounds fab. Have a copy here so will get stuck in shortly :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment