The Shadow Year (Hannah Richell, Hachette)

General fiction readers should enjoy this second novel from Hannah Richell, author of Secrets of the Tides. Alternating chapters piece together the stories of two very different characters: one easily likeable, the other more complicated. The former, Lila, is battling her grief over losing a child when she is mysteriously given the keys to an old rural cottage; the latter, Kat, is part of a group of university graduates who, 30 years earlier, avoid the rat race in an experiment to live self-sufficiently in the remote English countryside. The structure works well and it’s always very clear where the narrative is in time. How the two lives are linked and the role of the cottage are the novel’s key puzzles, and the tension peaks towards the end as all the twists unravel. The cottage’s Peak District setting is idyllically described, and Richell’s engagement with language and attention to detail stand out on the page. This is a carefully crafted, page-turning novel for readers who can handle some tragedy, like family dramas and like unfurling a mystery.

Joanne Shiells is an editor and former retail book buyer

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Category: Reviews