Penny Hancock

File under "London Gothic" and "Psychological Thriller". And perhaps also "Lolita Variations". Sonia is a fortysomething married professional in London living in the River House, a large house on the Thames. Her daughter is away at college, and her husband spends most of his time traveling, leaving her alone. One afternoon the 15 year old nephew of Sonia's good friend Helen comes by asking to borrow a hard-to-find album her husband owns. Sonia invites Jez in, and his presence quickly enflames past trauma, leading her to kidnap him.

As Humbert Humbert found in the girl-child Lolita the satisfying filler for an ache and passion he identifies as caused by the death of a childhood sweetheart, so Sonia finds in Jez the filler for a similar ache and trauma caused by the death of her own childhood passion, Seb. Unlike Humbert, Sonia does not seek sex in this situation; though she does admire his physical form, she primarily wants his emotional dependence. She wants him to enjoy being with her and to depend on her for his care. Though she deludes herself as to what she is actually doing to Jez, she is still aware enough to know that she needs to restrain him, though she tells herself that once she wins his trust, that will cease being necessary.

The setting of the novel plays a significant and satisfying role. The river Thames around the London neighborhood of Greenwich looms large in Sonia's psychology and events, both in the current day and in flashbacks to her youth. Much attention is given to the tides, currents, smells, activity, and character of the river, making it really one of the central characters.

Certainly a very satisfying debut novel.… (altro)