Echoes of Home by M.L. Rayner
Genre: Ghost story, Supernatural
Read: 8th August 2022
Published: 28th June 2022
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
After accepting a generous opportunity to start afresh, Leslie Wills, eagerly begins his journey to the Scottish Highlands of Elphin, a settled village that sits huddled amongst the mountains.
The people are welcoming, and the scenery is breathtaking.
But deep within its Highland paths, a location rests hidden from the public’s eye. An atmospheric location that entices you to learn the truth of its troubled past.
But once you bear witness to its sights and sounds, its presences will never allow you to forget. Uncover the truth, journeying back to a forgotten time.
Echoes of Home is beautifully crafted into a plot full of secrets and suspicion that will leave you longing for answers. A ghost story, which will haunt you long after it's finished...
MY THOUGHTS:
This is not my usual genre but I do tend to enjoy a little ghost story if it's written well and usually in a dual timelines format. ECHOES OF HOME isn't plotted out that way so the beginning is somewhat slow but I was eager to uncover its mysteries all the same.
Leslie Wills is something of a loner, one of five children who have all since left home, abandoning what once was in the poverty stricken streets of Stoke-on-Trent and thus leaving Leslie to care for his ailing mother after the sudden death of his father. When his mother succumbs to her own ailments, has but little direction left in life as his older brothers had all fled as soon as they came of age and never looked back. As the youngest, Leslie was left behind and now remains alone.
Until one day there is knock on his door. It is with great surprise that he opens it to find his older brother Jonathan, who had been the first to leave, on his doorstep. He came bearing something of a gift. A cottage in the Scottish Highlands. Without any hesitation, Leslie packs up his belongings and begins his journey to Elphin Cottage nestled within its beautiful yet rugged landscape of the highlands.
Upon arrival in the isolated countryside, Leslie soon begins to experience some strange occurrences. Knocking at his door. Cries and bumps in the night. A strange light emanating from a long unoccupied cottage across the moor. Shadows at his window. Bloodied handprints on the pane. And the cries in the night. So spooked is he that he abandons the cottage in the midst of a storm and trudges on foot to the nearest dwelling seeking shelter and refuge from both the storm and that which haunts him back at the cottage. There he befriends Coulls, an aging farmer who recounts to him the history of Elphin Cottage and that of the abandoned Clais Cottage which stands opposite. Together they forge something of a friendship and endeavour to put right the wrongs of the past.
There are some fascinating elements retold in this atmospheric ghost story, particularly surrounding the dire circumstances of the Great Famine and the Potato Famine (which was a topic I learnt about in a previous supernatural thriller set in Ireland "The Belladonna Maze"). As I read the the blackening of vegetation and rotting food I was reminded of my previous read. Coull's recounting of this part of the story was what held my interest the most as did Peter Daily's diary entries of the time, and I found this probably would have been better presented in a dual timeline format with both Leslie's story and that of the Ferrells and the tenant farmers of Elphin House both unfolding intermittently together. That being said, it was still something of an interesting tale, and not really what I was expecting. Though to be honest I had no idea what to expect.
As the author's debut, ECHOES OF HOME is a quick read and I ploughed through it in under 4 hours and it does hold one's interest and yet there is still something of a distance remaining between that of the story and the reader. Is it the remote setting? Or is it the story itself? I think the Scottish highlands, particularly the remote, is the perfect setting for a ghost story such as this. It has a noir feel to it but also a disconnection that is difficult to explain. And yet it is completely atmospheric.
The acknowledgements at the end of the book give the reader a better understanding knowing that Clais cottage is very real and many of the characters in the "story" are named for the author's own ancestors. That would most definitely give the story something of a personal touch. His own family having lived through the potato famine of Ireland in which the namesake at the focus of this tale also perished. I found these threads to be of most interest and how Rayner incorporated each of them into his story.
Overall, ECHOES OF HOME is an interesting and different read - particularly for me. Would I read something by the author again? I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on the story. Am I glad I read it? Most definitely, despite it not being my usual genre. I wouldn't call it a thriller or a horror. It is simply put, a ghost story. And best of all, no animals (dogs, in particular) were harmed.
I would like to thank #MLRayner, #RedDRagonBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #EchoesOfHome in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
After writing his first novel, Matt was welcomed into the family of Question Mark Press publishing and now dedicates his time on future releases. His hobbies include genealogy and hiking, and he enjoys spending time with his wife, Emma, his children, and his family.
Social Media links:
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