Whisper Cottage by Ann Wyn Clark
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 6th September 2021
Published: 2nd September 2021
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
How well do you know the woman next door?
When Stina and Jack move to an old rural cottage, they’re hoping for a fresh start. Their new home is run-down compared to their neighbour’s, but generous Mrs Barley quickly becomes a friend.
Until Stina sees a mysterious figure in the widow’s garden, and her happy new life begins to unravel. And when she hears strange noises in the night, she is forced to question if Mrs Barley is what she seems.
Why do the other villagers whisper about her? Why is she so eager to help the couple? And what is she hiding in her picture-perfect home?
MY REVIEW:
OK, I'll be honest. What initially drew me to this book was the character's name - Stina. It is a shortened version of my name that was given to me by a child who couldn't pronounce all three syllables of my name some thirty odd years ago. However, this woman was christened the name which was said to be Swedish. Had it not been for that little tidbit I probably would have passed this book and never read it. The premise wasn't overly intriguing though it did have promise. So I held on to that in the hope it offered up something exciting.
The story opens with a puzzling prologue that drew me in immediately. It's 1964 and a young baby screaming as its mother failing to soothe it in the presence of its somewhat grumpy father who silently swears he will teach that child a lesson or two the next time it dares to scream.
Fast forward some five decades later to 2012 and we meet Jack and Stina, a young couple who have just moved into the picturesque Wisteria Cottage in Avoncote, a chocolate box village just out of Stratford-upon-Avon. Recently married and expecting their first child, Jack and Stina are excited at the prospect of putting down roots in the delightful thatched cottage in the quaint village they now call home. They become quick friends with their neighbour in Rose Cottage, adjoining their own cottage, Mrs Barley a widow who lost her husband Frank forty years before. Although the woman is a little odd with a few eccentricities, the couple are shocked to learn that the community do not hold Mrs Barley in the same esteem. In fact, some villagers would go as far to say that the old woman is a witch and they would do well to steer clear of her. But how could this kindly friendly and helpful old lady be capable of such atrocities for which she's been accused?
Jack is a veterinarian working long hours leaving Stina home alone to befriend the kindly neighbour. But the longer she spends in the old woman's presence, the more Stina gets to know her...and she finds herself beginning to question just how well they really do know their neighbour? Then there are the noises in the night, the sounds coming from the attic, the strange chanting on the other side of the wall...but when Stina confronts Mrs Barley about it the following day, the woman knows nothing about it. Had Stina just imagined the sounds? Particularly when there is no evidence that anything had been moved about in the loft.
When Stina sees a strange man in Mrs Barley's back garden, Jack dismisses it as hormones and sleep deprivation since the birth of their baby daughter Elodie. But Stina knows what she saw. And she had seen him on numerous occasions before their daughter's birth too. And yet still she was the only one to attest to the sighting with no one else having seen the elusive man. Given her mother's own illness, Stina begins to worry that maybe she has a propensity toward mental illness as well. Did she really hear those sounds in the night? Did she really see that strange man who bore a striking resemblance to Mrs Barley's long dead husband Frank? Or is she delusional and suffering both auditory and occipital hallucinations?
But then a dark secret that has long been buried is about to be uncovered, shedding a whole new light on their neighbour....giving them cause to question themselves just how well do they know her?
There are whispers all throughout this book, least of all in the small minds of villagers whose gossip ends up being a form of Chinese whispers where what begins as one thing ends up something completely different! So the whispers of the past and the whispers of the villagers become the whispers in her own mind. And as Stina begins to question her own sanity she also starts to wonder just who her neighbour really is.
I liked both Stina and Jack, and I even liked the kindly old Mrs Barley. I didn't like Stina's bestie Reggie much but on the whole the characters were pretty likeable.
I'm not sure how to categorise WHISPER COTTAGE. It's not really a thriller but then what else could it be? There are whispers of the supernatural, of witches, hexes and curses which is just a little too strange for my liking but is that all there is to the story? Or is there something deeper going on?
I loved the Prologue and enjoyed the ending...but it's the in-between that I found slow and wondered the direction it was taking. I knew there was a story building but I questioned as to how long it was going to take to get there...and whether it would be worth it in the end. Well, be patient because the end will shock you. It was something I never saw coming, that's for sure. But...and this is a big BUT...where on earth does the prologue fit in with the rest of the story? I'm sorry but I saw nothing that linked them and I am at a loss as to who those people were and what it actually meant.
Overall, WHISPER COTTAGE is a fairly enjoyable book despite lacking the addictive thrills and the steady pace. It was atmospheric but not in an eerie gothic way. It held my interest enough to finish it to see how it played out but that's about it.
I would like to thank #AnnWynClark, #Netgalley, #AvonBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #WhisperCottage in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Social Media links:
Twitter | Goodreads
No comments:
Post a Comment