Skip to main content

The Unravelling - Liz Treacher @Liztreacher @lovebooksgroup


So pleased to be on the Book Tour today.


Description

'The Unravelling combines sinister atmosphere with witty insight, and characters we can relate to facing the supernatural fear of our most human nightmares' - Helen Sedgwick, author of The Comet Seekers

‘A cappuccino.’ He spoke clearly but slowly, as if he were a stranger here.
‘One shot or two?’
He gazed at me with thinly veiled contempt. ‘Oh, you only get one shot.’


For Ella Aldridge, a brilliant Classics student, life was supposed to be exciting. Thirty years on, she’s stuck in the suburbs in a boring job and a failing marriage. Even her daughter, the one she gave it all up for, seems distant.
But a sinister encounter on platform three is about to change everything. Under the watchful eye of a shadowy ticket inspector and his mysterious associate, Ella finds herself spiralling into a murky underworld where portentous signs appear from nowhere, thoughts are stored on memory sticks and speeding express trains may be more than they seem. As she begins to lose her grip on reality, Ella embarks on an extraordinary journey that touches everyone around her, forcing her to confront the biggest question of all.
By turns poignant, chilling and tinged with dark humour, The Unravelling is a novel full of heart and beauty, about the myth and magic of everyday life, and the sacrifices we make for what really matters.

Review

This is the third book of Liz's I have read and it is a departure in a different direction for her, and one I liked very much.

The book begins with Ella finding a railway station car park ticket on the ground that she can use for the day. She thinks this means it's going to be a good day for her. However, a little later this misdemeanour and an out of date season ticket, land her in the Transport Police office - but it's not of this world!

I enjoyed the character of Ella who puts up with her nosey neighbour Ken and his daily salutation of "Salve" with more than a little good grace on the surface. Her innermost thoughts are a little different though, and could be the undoing of her. Unless she follows the coaching from Nigel Roach who she met in the Transport police office. But then she catches sight of a miniature Nigel inside the photocopier at work, and everything starts to spiral away from her.

As her the hold on her life seems to be slipping out of her grasp who can she turn to?  Her husband has other priorities with an exhibition of his photographs and is for most of the book a complete arse. Her daughter has her own worries.  It seems only little Lily her grand daughter can sense things are not as usual for her Granny.

You've probably guessed by now this is not a tale of ordinary life - or rather it is but with encounters of some other forces which may or may not be at work. As Ella's dreams and reality begin to merge, it felt like the things that happened were so prescient of the Covid-19 lockdown, that it almost seemed normal. 

I enjoyed this book so much and Liz's writing is really quite superb. I'm not one for over descriptive writing but in Liz's hands she makes every word count and you feel yourself savouring them as you devour each one.

I'm giving this book five out of five stars and fingers crossed for a sequel. My thanks to Liz and Love Books Tours for a copy of the book to review.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

Description THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER. YOU DON'T KNOW HER. BUT SHE KNOWS YOU. Rear Window  meets  Gone Girl , in this exceptional and startling psychological thriller Review I must be one of the last people to read this book. I did apply for a review copy but unfortunately wasn't successful. I then waited for the book to come down in price which it didn't - so I decided I would buy it and read it straight away! I'm sure it will be a film and before anyone gives away what happens I felt I really needed to get it read, so it jumped the TBR queue. There is not much plot outline from the publisher as you can see in the description above, so there wasn't a lot to go on when I began to read the book. First of all the book jumps around date wise - past and present and also between the main characters. I did have a little trouble remembering who was who and which time frame we were in - but that soon settled down. I also had to re-read the beginning because I th...

The Second Chance Book Club - Stephanie Butland

I'm on the Blog Tour for this wonderful book today. Description Dear Ms Blythe We are dealing with an estate of which you may be a beneficiary. Please send any documents in your possession that relate to your birth and adoption. September is at her wits' end. There's never enough money to support her boyfriend and herself. September has nothing to look forward to. Then the letter comes. September has inherited a house from a great-aunt she never knew she had. It would make sense to sell it. But when sees the place - the orange gate, the garden, the tree, the bumblebee door knocker - she doesn't want to let it go. Not yet. Then the members of the book club arrive, and she begins to discover the story of the family she didn't know. And to make new friends. September feels safe here. But money alone can't bring contentment. September is just at the start of a journey full of surprises, shocks – and opportunities, if she's brave enough . . . Review As soon as I...

This Immaculate Body - Emma Van Straaten

Description ' From the very first page, Emma Van Straaten had me by the Hail Marys.  Obsessive, delusional, disastrous - but so intricately woven with heart, warmth and empathy. An impeccable debut from a rising talent ' ALICE SLATER 'An addictive deep-dive into the dark, throbbing heart of obsessive desire.  Baby Reindeer  meets  Convenience Store Woman '  KIRSTY LOGAN, author of  Now She Is Witch Alice has been cleaning Tom's flat every Wednesday for a year. With every smudge wiped from his coffee cup, every crease smoothed out in his bed, every multivitamin counted from the jar, Alice spirals deeper into infatuation. But as Alice prepares for the moment when they will finally meet face-to-face, she discovers that love might not be the cure she thought it was. . . This Immaculate Body  is a story of obsession, of the way women view the world and the ways that the world views them. As Alice frantically tries to cling to an imagined future with Tom, th...