Dear Child (2020) by Romy Haussmann
(transl. Jamie Bulloch)
YOU ESCAPED. BUT HE WILL NEVER LET YOU GO.
DESCRIPTION
A windowless shack in the woods. Lena’s life and that of her two children follows the rules set by their captor, the father: meals, bathroom visits, study time are strictly scheduled and meticulously observed. He protects his family from the dangers lurking in the outside world and makes sure that his children will always have a mother to look after them.
One day Lena manages to flee – but the nightmare continues. It seems as if her tormentor wants to get back what belongs to him. And then there is the question whether she really is the woman called ‘Lena’, who disappeared without a trace over thirteen years ago. The police and Lena’s family are all desperately trying to piece together a puzzle that doesn’t quite seem to fit.
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This book will be discussed at our meeting on
17 January 2022.
1 Comment
Amanda Read · 01/01/2022 at 6:37 pm
Fourteen years ago, Lena disappears. Now she has been found at the scene of a car accident, but is she who she says she is?
Told in multiple narratives, competently written and with never a dull moment, this novel will doubtless appeal to the many who love a psychological thriller.
However, heavy handed characterisation hampers the plot. Matthias, a controlling father lacking self-control, flies off the handle at what he perceives to be police/journalistic incompetence. His over-involvement in his daughter’s early life is there to an extent, but not explored in any psychological depth (on either side of the relationship).
Lena as we first meet her is a stereotypical unreliable narrator. A device used to cast about red herrings as though Brexit and the fish war never happened.
It is the character of Hannah, Lena’s daughter, which causes most issue. When we first meet Hannah, her unremitting encyclopedial knowledge of everything wears thin very quickly. OK, we get it. She is autistic. Then there is her naming by the Press as ‘Zombie Child’. Surely, even the lowest of the gutter press knows better, now?
With many plot incongruities, twists there for the sake of it, and a denouement that is plain daft, this doesn’t deliver on its promise. That said, the author does show potential.