The Hawley Book of the Dead
By Chrysler Szarlan (Century)
AUTHOR and part-time bookseller, Chrysler Szarlan has invested herself heavily in this novel.
She not only lives in the setting for much of the book, Massachusetts, but like her heroine, rides horses in the actual Hawley Forest, source of much of the intrigue.
Like her heroine, Revelation, the writer has also been a magician’s assistant.
But in Reve’s case, sleight of hand is eclipsed by her true faculty for magic and when she returns, with her three daughters, to the familarity of her childhood surroundings – the town of Hawley Five Corners – the enigmas surrounding her Irish roots surface, conspiring to make for an exhilarating excavation of both her past and present.
It seems fitting, as the audience is beckoned into the midst of her family’s legends, that Revelation has, herself, grown up with a tradition of storytelling and secrets, and as we pore over this volume, we unravel the tales with her, becoming inexorably drawn into the secrets held by the old farmhouse where Reve seeks refuge against an ambiguous, though clearly dangerous present-day opponent.
The Hawley Book of the Dead is a fantastic debut novel.
Well-written by Szarlan, it melds the past and present seamlessly, with no jarring as one might expect from a first-timer. Characters are skilfully developed and the author cannily ties up the loose ends which readers like myself find annoying.
Everyday reality dovetails perfectly with fantasy and if you enjoy a bit of suspense, this novel will leave you gagging for the second of this series, which is apparently in the pipeline.
But, take note, if you’re antsy about references to ouija boards, witches or fairies, this is not the book for you.