Last month, I was invited to an author event for Hodder Fiction at Carmelite House in London. It’s an amazing place! I even got to see the floor where my own publisher is based. But I was there for an event with Louise Swanson (aka Louise Beech), B.A. Paris and Emma Haughton, to showcase their new books. Huge thanks to Hodder for inviting me. I’ve held off posting before now because I wanted to read all three books first. Before I give you my thoughts, here are the blurbs for the novels.
The Blurbs
End of Story by Louise Swanson
Too much imagination can be a dangerous thing
It has been five years since writing fiction was banned by the government.
Fern Dostoy is a criminal. Officially, she has retrained in a new job outside of the arts but she still scrawls in a secret notepad in an effort to capture what her life has become: her work on a banned phone line, reading bedtime stories to sleep-starved children; Hunter, the young boy who calls her and has captured her heart; and the dreaded visits from government officials.
But as Fern begins to learn more about Hunter, doubts begin to surface. What are they both hiding?
And who can be trusted?
The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
THEN
Amelie has always been a survivor, from losing her parents as a child in Paris to making it on her own in London. As she builds a career for herself in the magazine industry, she meets, and agrees to marry, Ned Hawthorne.
NOW
Amelie wakes up in a pitch-black room, not knowing where she is. Why has she been taken? Who are her mysterious captors? And why does she soon feel safer here, imprisoned, than she had begun to feel with her husband Ned?
The Sanctuary by Emma Haughton
Zoey doesn’t remember anything about last night. But she knows something went badly wrong. For she is no longer in New York. She’s woken up in the desert, in a white building she doesn’t recognise, and she’s alone.
When she discovers she’s been admitted to The Sanctuary, a discreet, mysterious, isolated refuge from normal life, to avoid jail, she is stunned. She knows she has secrets, troubles, but she thought she had everything under control. But as she spends more time with other residents, she begins to open up about what she’s running from. Until she realises that not everyone in The Sanctuary has her best interests at heart, and someone might even be a killer . . .
My Reviews
Before I look at each individual book, it’s interesting to note that all three novels have women who are trapped and have to find a way out for themselves. Each author has looked at this from a different angle so although there are similar themes, they’re very different books.
End of Story by Louise Swanson
Having read End of Story during the balmy days of October 2022, I could well believe the setting of a heatwave in November 2035. But that’s not the only catastrophe that’s happened. In another believable move, fiction has been banned by the government and only factual books are allowed to be sold and read. Parents could go to prison and have their children removed if they’re caught telling them a bedtime story. For Fern Dostoy, a best-selling, award-winning author, this is more than a travesty. Her whole life is turned upside down as she’s not allowed to acknowledge her previous success. She’s also monitored on a regular basis by two men to ensure she’s no longer writing. But Fern is writing a diary, a secret one that reveals everything that’s going on.
There’s immediacy and intimacy in Louise Swanson’s writing that captured me completely and drew me in. I was in the story with Fern, feeling everything that she was feeling. I could instantly relate to and feel her despair, not just for herself, but for everyone affected. Rather worryingly, I could imagine a time where fiction might be banned. And as a writer, I found that completely disturbing. A stunning book.
The Prisoner by B.A. Paris
I think if I had to give a one-line summary for The Prisoner, then it would be ‘imagine Room in the dark’. Amelie comes to and finds herself in complete darkness. Unable to see anything, she has to use her hands to explore where she is and then, work out why she’s there.
I have to confess, if I was Amelie, I wouldn’t have had the presence of mind that she has. I’d have freaked out! But Amelie has been through quite a lot of trauma in her life and her will to survive is strong. This story gripped me from the very beginning as it moved from the past to the present and back again, revealing more of the puzzle. I was cheering Amelie on each time she tried to escape her captors and felt her despair when there were knockbacks. I’m not sure how much more I can say about this book without giving away spoilers. However, it’s one of the most claustrophobic novels I’ve ever read (after Room) and I had to put it down at times just to get my breath back. Fantastic.
The Sanctuary by Emma Haughton
I haven’t read Emma’s debut, The Dark, which is set in Antarctica, but she has gone from one extreme temperature to another with the Mexican desert as the setting for The Sanctuary. Similar to The Prisoner, Zoey wakes up not knowing where she is. But she’s not in darkness; she’s in the blinding light and heat of a desert and her immediate surroundings seem quite luxurious. She has no recollection of getting there though. After a while, she realises that she’s in a rehab centre.
The Sanctuary is an unorthodox rehab centre with some unusual treatments. Some of the other clients’ addictions are clear – alcohol, drugs, gambling. But there was one thing mentioned that, as a writer, rang true – addicted to our thoughts. I definitely spend more time in my daydream world than the real one!
As Zoey is the narrator, we, the readers, are as confused as she is as to why she’s there. We can only go at her pace in discovering the truth. And what we discover with Zoey, is that the perfect Sanctuary, isn’t so perfect as it first seems. Again, it’s one of those books where it’s easy to give spoilers so I’ll try not to do that. But I will say that Zoey finds herself in a place where she doesn’t know who she can trust, and with a remote setting, she can’t run anywhere either. Being trapped in paradise isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. An intriguing read.
End of Story by Louise Swanson will be published next year on 23rd March but you can pre order here.
The Prisoner by B.A. Paris is out now and can be bought here.
The Sanctuary by Emma Haughton is also out now and can be bought here.
joykluver 