You know a book has left its mark when you rush to find more books by the same author… only to feel that pang of disappointment when you discover it’s their debut with no follow up.
It’s difficult to place this novel neatly into a single genre. There are elements of a psychological thriller, but the book also veers into historical fiction, family drama, and motherhood narrative.
At its heart is a 53-year-old Jewish woman, Gilda, originally from Germany, who has lived in the UK since the 1930s. The novel shifts between the traumatic shadows of 1930s & World War II flashbacks and its present-day swinging 1960s setting, creating a powerful and unsettling backdrop for a story of emotional reckoning and a woman searching for her place. Gilda started her life in a gilded cage: can she ever escape herself?
The plot revolves around a fraught mother-in-law/daughter-in-law/son dynamic. Gilda becomes fixated on her new daughter-in-law, Alice, in an attempt to mend her fractured relationship with her cold son, Reuben. Why does Alice seem to get all of Reuben’s love?
But this isn’t just a present-day narrative; it spans decades of loss, motherhood, divorce, and the breakdown of familial bonds. The character arc is fully realised, taking the reader through dark, tense emotional terrain. You get the nasty and unkind mixed with the tragic and heroic.
There’s an oppressive atmosphere to this book with an undercurrent of threat and unravelling, but the novel doesn’t leave you in despair. The story captures the complexity of human relationships with stunning precision. Love, fear, jealousy, shame, and hatred all coexist, especially within the messiness of family.
What I loved most was the protagonist herself. She’s deeply flawed, sometimes even unlikeable, but heartbreakingly human. The novel offers a brilliant exploration of why we often fall short of the best versions of ourselves—especially in the roles we play as parents.
One word: acerbic.
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