Rebecca Kelly’s impressive debut showcases her writing talent, in a sensitive evocation of her protagonist’s childhood trauma, through the fractured memories of her adult self. This technique is effective in conveying the suffering Heidi has endured for years, and may never escape. ‘And all the time, my past seems to be leaking back into my life, like a stain.’
‘Monstrous Souls’ is an intriguing read. Kelly introduces her main characters in the first few pages, establishing their diversity, along with the links between them, by subtle descriptions of appearance and settings. There is a sense of a shared nightmare; a situation under control but unresolved. Detail is sparse, but its impact on the imagination is powerful.
The fate of three young girls is all the more hideous when contrasted with lively accounts of their friendship, and the warm home life shared by two of them. Because of the secrets kept by Heidi’s friend Nina, they inhabit a world that adults, however essential, cannot enter. Even a loved mother is distant. ‘Although I stand stock still, unyielding to her, I take comfort in the warmth of her.’
My favourite character is Denise, the policewoman for whom Heidi’s case ought to be all in the day’s work. She juggles her everyday problems, like finding the right shade of makeup for her skin and the poor quality of food in the police canteen, with her obsessive longing to solve Heidi’s case and bring the perpetrators to justice. Although the catastrophic events took place fifteen years ago, ‘Denise can almost smell the horror that hovered in the warm evening air.’
Like an angry ghost, a stalker’s voice permeates the book. His involvement with what happened on a fine summer day in 2001 is shocking, even though the effect of organised crime on young people is well documented. ‘At what point had the boy’s absence in that moment come to be a perpetual state of being?’ He makes the reader aware of the danger Heidi faces. She can trust no-one.
The story of what happened to Heidi, her sister Anna and their friend Nina is not an easy read, because of the level of abuse to which they were subjected. However, Kelly reveals the violence by suggestion rather than explicit description, leaving its full horror to the reader’s imagination.
I recommend this book to lovers of crime thrillers with social relevance.
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