The Long, Long Afternoon - Inga Vesper

 

Description

From the publishers of The Familiars by Stacey Halls comes Manilla Press's biggest debut launch of the season - and your next obsession in reading group fiction.

Yesterday, I kissed my husband for the last time . . .

It's the summer of 1959, and the well-trimmed lawns of Sunnylakes, California, wilt under the sun. At some point during the long, long afternoon, Joyce Haney, wife, mother, vanishes from her home, leaving behind two terrified toddlers and a bloodstain on the kitchen floor . . .

A beguiling, deeply atmospheric debut novel from the cracked heart of the American Dream, The Long, Long Afternoon is at once a page-turning mystery and an intoxicating vision of the ways in which women everywhere are diminished, silenced and ultimately under-estimated.

Review

I just loved this read. The style of writing drew me in from the very first paragraph.

Joyce Haney appears to have the perfect life and home as do all the residents of Sunnylakes, California, in fact it's a little bit of a Stepford Wives community it seems. 

This is the 1950s so prejudice abounds in all manner of ways. Ruby, the help, is arrested even though she only found the blood on the kitchen floor. No one is interested in what she has to say except a Detective from Brooklyn who isn't as immersed in the California treatment of others as his colleagues are. 

I found the character of Ruby so well drawn and felt for her as one after another prejudices and physical attacks were hurled against her. It really brought to life for me how awful it was. Bit by bit we discover that Joyce, although more privileged, was in a living hell of her own. 

For some reason I wasn't expecting the mystery element of the book and the good old fashioned detective work. I became immersed in the 1950s and didn't want to leave despite it not being a nice place a lot of the time. 

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. My thanks to netgalley for the ARC to review.