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A review by wordsofclover
The Visitors by Catherine Burns
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Marion is a 50-year old woman who lacks social skills and still lives with her brother in their childhood home. Marion loves John but is also scared of his temper, and so turns a blind eye to what he keeps in the cellar - he is the only person she has after all.
This is a very character-focused novel as we follow Marion through past and present timelines. We learn about her childhood and her relationship with her parents, in particular her cold and controlling mother, and we also learn about her relationship with her brother John and what he was like as a child, and what he's like now as an adult. Marion never had friends, and was bullied in school and so, lacks a lot of social skills other people have and also looks decades older than she is. We see her focus on fantasies she has about a different kind of life with friends and family.
This book reminded me a bit of a Liz Nugent novel as Liz is a master at a morally gray character and unsettling quiet plots. However, I think the blurb of this novel completely throws off reader's expectations - we are told Marion is faced with a decision about the cellar when John has a heart attack but this doesn't happen till over 80% into the book so I was reading it expecting this to happen much sooner and became frustrated when it didn't.
This is a very character-focused novel as we follow Marion through past and present timelines. We learn about her childhood and her relationship with her parents, in particular her cold and controlling mother, and we also learn about her relationship with her brother John and what he was like as a child, and what he's like now as an adult. Marion never had friends, and was bullied in school and so, lacks a lot of social skills other people have and also looks decades older than she is. We see her focus on fantasies she has about a different kind of life with friends and family.
This book reminded me a bit of a Liz Nugent novel as Liz is a master at a morally gray character and unsettling quiet plots. However, I think the blurb of this novel completely throws off reader's expectations - we are told Marion is faced with a decision about the cellar when John has a heart attack but this doesn't happen till over 80% into the book so I was reading it expecting this to happen much sooner and became frustrated when it didn't.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Sexual assault