BOOK REVIEW
The Other Mrs Walker - Mary Paulson-Ellis
This book was one of the ones that I grabbed during my recent Charity Shop Challenge. The cover gave nothing away but I was drawn to its simplicity and did (miraculously) read part of the blurb. I was intrigued. Ghost story? Murder Mystery? Secrets and Lies? After finishing The Hobbit recently, I wanted to step away from the fantasy genre and read something more based on reality.
BLURB
Somehow she'd always known that she would end like this. In a small square room, in a small square flat. In a small square box perhaps. Cardboard, with a sticker on the outside. And a name...
An old lady dies alone and unheeded in a cold Edinburgh flat on a snowy Christmas night. A faded emerald dress hangs in her wardrobe, a spilt glass of whisky pools on the floor.
A few days later, a middle-aged woman arrives back in the city she thought she'd left behind, her future uncertain, her past in tatters.
She soon finds herself a job at the Office for Lost People, tracking down the families of those who have died neglected and alone.
But what Margaret Penny cannot yet know, is just how entangled her own life will become in the death of one lonely stranger...
'One of the strongest debuts of the year' Herald
'Full of twists and turns' Independent
'A wonderful, inventive debut...I can't wait to see what this author has up her sleeve next' Fanny Blake, Daily Mail
MY REVIEW
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you've read my previous reviews, you will understand that I ADORE a dual timeline. This book has two timelines, one of which is the present day, following Margaret Penny as she tries to find the family of the newly deceased Mrs. Walker (and tries to find herself and re-establish a relationship with her mother, Barbara, in the process). The second timeline starts in the 1930s and follows the childhood and young adult life of Mrs. Walker and her sisters.
The pace was slow at times, especially at the start, but built up nicely towards the end of the book. During the historical timeline, the author shared multiple points of view, from each of the sisters which really built the characters, and the suspense brilliantly. This style was right up my street and although one major twist was pretty easy to identify, there was one big surprise that left me open-mouthed.
Reading this, I felt connected to each of the characters, loving and hating them in equal measure and at different times. They were well padded out and I really enjoyed how intertwined everything became. Each of the sisters had their own journey which I was equally invested in.
Despite all of this, I was left feeling disappointed when I closed the book and had hoped for it to be less open-ended. I do love a good conclusion. Though the author has written more books with the Office for Lost People premise, there's no specific sequel to this so I am left to guess how things were concluded. I know that this is something that many readers love, being able to make their own assumptions about what happened next, and for those readers, this is brilliantly done, just not for me.
The writing was beautiful and haunting, poetic at times. I enjoyed the style very much. Being from Scotland, I smiled, knowingly at the dark, rainy and dreary way that Edinburgh was described. I've never visited Edinburgh and not experienced rain, mist, or greyness in some way or another, it's a beautiful city, but be assured that grey is part of the atmosphere! The symbolism of this didn't go unnoticed, Edinburgh and Margaret were one and the same.
I also got a fluttering feeling of magic (or fate) being threaded in the background of Margaret's present-day story This may have been wishful thinking but there were moments of serendipity, along with knowing looks and comments that gave me a sense of a magical undercurrent. It wasn't blatant, commented on, or even noticed by Margaret but I enjoyed speculating on whether there was anything to it.
There are some themes of abuse concerning young girls, so I would advise caution if you have triggers in this area. While the descriptions are not explicit, the intent is clear, and reading these parts was definitely emotional. The subject was sensitively handled and was a key part of the story and character development.
If you love to read historical fiction or enjoy unravelling family mysteries and relationships, this is a great book for you to read. A solid 4-star read for me, I'm glad I picked it up as my final gambit in my visit to the charity shop!
Have you read this, or any other book by this author? What would you rate it as?
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