Karen
A follow-on from SHEERWATER, LATER, ONLY LOVE REMAINS is a tense, spiralling, dark story built around three main characters, and the life changing events that are happening to them, some a result of their own actions. The story starts out introducing the reader to the main three characters as much as is possible, although reading the earlier novel would definitely help in creating an instant connection, particularly as there are some elements to the men in this story that are very confronting.
Jack Wolfe, survived childhood polio, going on to marry the love of his life. Driving the car that crashed killing is wife, he's retreated to a remote family shack in the Otways, a cold, wet, endlessly windy place, the shack is basic, his life full of remorse and plagued by memory, all he wants is solitude.
Into this life, come two people, firstly Lotus, a young, vibrant woman who insists on connection with Jack, her life has been upturned by her pregnancy, which makes for a family connection with Jack neither of them knows how to manage. In a more sinister way, late one wet and horrible night, after Jack's dog started howling, he discovers a desperate man hiding in his shed, a man who it subsequently turns out has committed an unthinkable act. Which leaves Jack with two choices. Keep Lotus at bay, maintain the solitude he desires, and then whether or not to help another stranger based on what he believes his late wife would have done.
Part of the fascination of this novel is the way that Jack has accidentally done the worst possible thing, Lawrence has deliberately done a dreadful thing, and Lotus seems, perhaps, to have the potential to be the least problematic, most normal of the three of them. All of which is delivered in a lyrical, gentle, rolling sort of a style, although with no punches pulled on the characters worst, and eventually, better traits.
There's no shying away from the reveal of Lawrence's actions early on in the story though - and this review has to warn readers - it involves filicide which will be confronting for some. Having said that, there is consideration and care in the handling of all these stories, nothing sensational, nothing overt.
All of the plotlines in LATER, ONLY LOVE REMAINS contribute to a novel that's ultimately about life, death, male violence, and a yearning for redemption. Balanced as always against love. It's exploring if it is true that at the end of the day, only love remains.
Originally posted at www.austcrimefiction.org.
A follow-on from SHEERWATER, LATER, ONLY LOVE REMAINS is a tense, spiralling, dark story built around three main characters, and the life changing events that are happening to them, some a result of their own actions. The story starts out introducing the reader to the main three characters as much as is possible, although reading the earlier novel would definitely help in creating an instant connection, particularly as there are some elements to the men in this story that are very confronting.
Jack Wolfe, survived childhood polio, going on to marry the love of his life. Driving the car that crashed killing is wife, he's retreated to a remote family shack in the Otways, a cold, wet, endlessly windy place, the shack is basic, his life full of remorse and plagued by memory, all he wants is solitude.
Into this life, come two people, firstly Lotus, a young, vibrant woman who insists on connection with Jack, her life has been upturned by her pregnancy, which makes for a family connection with Jack neither of them knows how to manage. In a more sinister way, late one wet and horrible night, after Jack's dog started howling, he discovers a desperate man hiding in his shed, a man who it subsequently turns out has committed an unthinkable act. Which leaves Jack with two choices. Keep Lotus at bay, maintain the solitude he desires, and then whether or not to help another stranger based on what he believes his late wife would have done.
Part of the fascination of this novel is the way that Jack has accidentally done the worst possible thing, Lawrence has deliberately done a dreadful thing, and Lotus seems, perhaps, to have the potential to be the least problematic, most normal of the three of them. All of which is delivered in a lyrical, gentle, rolling sort of a style, although with no punches pulled on the characters worst, and eventually, better traits.
There's no shying away from the reveal of Lawrence's actions early on in the story though - and this review has to warn readers - it involves filicide which will be confronting for some. Having said that, there is consideration and care in the handling of all these stories, nothing sensational, nothing overt.
All of the plotlines in LATER, ONLY LOVE REMAINS contribute to a novel that's ultimately about life, death, male violence, and a yearning for redemption. Balanced as always against love. It's exploring if it is true that at the end of the day, only love remains.
Originally posted at www.austcrimefiction.org.