This is a book I bought from a local charity shop for 50p and as it was in hardback this made it an even better bargin. I have read a few other books by James Herbert in the past and have enjoyed them so thought it was worth while giving it a go.
Basic plot (trying not to give too much away):
Gabriel (Gabe) Caleigh has taken a job which will mean his
family have to temporarily relocate away from London. His main motivation was
to be away from the area where his son went missing almost a year ago to help his
wife, Eve, who still blames herself for it. He had previously seen Crickley
Hall in the Summer and its remote location looked perfect – even if the house
didn’t but it would only be for a short while so would it matter?
Swish-Thwack
Swish-Thwack
Swish-Thwack
On arrival in the Autumn the weather has turned and now it
seems to be rain and nothing but rain. Gabriel, Eve and their two daughters
soon begin to hear strange noises at night but this is an old house and old
houses are full of strange noises aren’t they……?
Swish-Thwack
Swish-Thwack
Swish-Thwack
The door to the cellar always seems to be open the next
morning even when they close and lock it before they go to bed but the cellar
has a well going to an underground river so this could be a bad lock and strong
air current couldn’t it…..?
Swish-Thwack
Swish-Thwack
Swish-Thwack
The truth is in the house – somewhere……
What I thought of it:
Compared to some other novels I have read by James Herbert
this is quite long but it is not slow and I can’t really find a reason to cut
part of it or even some of the characters as in a way they all do add something
to the novel. Even the Caleigh’s dog, Chester, (who does a disappearing act
part way through) is an important plot point. I do think the fact Chester does
a runner was in part part of the plot but also to remove the need for the
author to say that he was fed, taken for a walk etc.
The description of the main characters is reasonable but some
could have perhaps been more detailed. Herbert does also include the
pronunciation spelling some of the locals use in the local dialect (e.g. right
past me came out as roit pas’ me – from p 30 in my edition of the book). I also
think the description of the cellar could have been better in order to convey
the dark dampness of it but in all the main setting of the house has been done
well and it does sound like it was built to be functional rather than
comfortable and inviting.
The way Herbert portrays the locals of the small town of
Hollow Bay does remind me of the sketches from ‘The league of gentlemen’ as
some of them have the “this is a local place for local people, there is nothing
for you here” opinion and are very distrusting of non-locals and they all have
that same odd look whenever Gabe or Eve mention that they are living at Crickley
Hall. The fact that there are still some villages which are like this, in the
way they tend not to trust non-locals (I have stayed in one or two of them is
the past), did make me smile a bit. However, the area of Devil’s Cleave where
the house is built does sound like a peaceful place to spend a holiday –
despite the weather and the rather strange house.
Herbert does a very good job of building suspense in the
parts of the novel where the strange events occur; even putting Gabe into the
role of the logical thinker trying to explain what has caused them and Eve as
the believer that something more supernatural is happening. The historical events
which occurred in the house and in the local town are revealed layer by layer
each one slowly revealing the truth about what had happened and each layer
makes the truth more horrific than the last the way.
The flashbacks to the events that occurred in the house
during 1943 are interwoven into the novel which can, at times, give the novel a
rather ‘jumpy’ feeling but in all it does work well.
Herbert does this is to bring characters into the novel all
of whom were connected in some way to the events which occurred at the house in
1943 and why it was kept quiet slowly
unveil what they know and who they knew.
The climax of the novel where the full truth of the horror
that occurred works well and the bad feeling and the horror within the house is
finally laid to rest …or is it….?
Please note: For the reasons for the ‘Swish-Thwack’ – you
will have to read the book
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