Thornwood House (Anna Romer, S&S)

This is Anna Romer’s first novel and it reflects her stated fascination with old diaries, letters and dark family secrets. It is also very much of the ‘rural gothic’ genre as practised so well by Kate Morton. Upon the death of her daughter’s father, Audrey inherits a once grand property an hour outside Brisbane. Audrey and Bronwyn immediately feel a deep sense of belonging to the house and land. However, this connection is challenged when Audrey hears the rumours about the previous owner and his involvement in the death of a young Aboriginal woman in 1944. A bout of insomnia leads to a strange dream-like state, where Audrey seems caught between the present and the past as she seeks to unravel the mystery behind the young woman’s death and other unexplained deaths on the property. I enjoyed this book, and I had a couple of sleepless nights myself. It is long, at over 400 pages, and tends to drag a little in parts. Also, it isn’t difficult to work out the ‘mystery’ at its heart. However, I see no reason why this won’t be popular and suspect we will be reading Romer’s second novel before too long.

Rachel Wilson is a Melbourne-based media academic and former bookseller

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews