Synopsis

It is surely a simple case of hysteria. Four young women allegedly witness a terrifying apparition while walking in the woods. Has the devil really revealed himself to them? Are they genuine victims of demonic possession? Or, as most suspect, is their purpose in claiming all of this considerably more prosaic? The eyes of the country turn to a small Nottinghamshire town, where an inquiry is to be held. Everyone there is living through hard, uncertain times. The king is recently dead. It is a new century -- a new world looking to the future. But here, in the ancient heart of England, an old beast stirs.

Going by the blurb you think you are going to get a nasty, shivery little tale about pastoral superstition - however all is not as it seems and that is not all together a bad thing.

You expect a read full of supernatural shenanigans when what you get is people being devilishly mean to each other and not much else. But the quality of the writing, the frighteningly good characterisation and the underlying tension of this sad story more than make up for any lost expectations of a satanic romp. It is quite extraordinary that a story about a non story where not much happens can be quiet so compelling.

Edric is an author who makes his reader work hard and you have to really think what is going on beneath the surface in this dreamlike, claustrophobic village and of course there is no nice, easy ending. As someone said on Amazon it is like watching episode 1 of a series...and then it is cancelled.

An extraordinary novel -- Picnic at Hanging Rock meets Howard's End meet The Crucible.
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Five young girls from a small Nottinghamshire town claim to have seen a terrifying apparition in a clearing in the local woods: was it a demon, a devil, or even the Devil himself? Merrit (we never get to know his first name) is sent by his superiors to head the inquiry, along with three prominent locals: the magistrate, the reverend and the doctor (so as to represent the State, the law, the church and medicine/science), to determine if this is simply a case of hysteria, the result of a genuine supernatural event, or something altogether more prosaic.

Set in 1910, the novel heavily relies on its time setting to convey its atmosphere: a new century, the king recently dead, new technologies and advances in science are invading every community; in short, old certainties are crumbling, people feel unsettled as they're encouraged to behave and see things differently, yet can't help but hang on to the old ways of thinking. Anyone familiar with courtroom dramas will know that there's not much action and that the suspense is created by the interplay of its characters; this novel is a case in point. The characterisation and sense of atmosphere is excellent, and the tension arises from the psychological power play between the main protagonists and the conflicts within the inquiry panel itself. We are only told of events as facts, i.e. they have already happened and form part of Merrit's investigation, or we learn of them third hand. Only towards the end of the book do we and Merrit get involved more directly. There's never any doubt that the girls' claim was anything but a supernatural sighting, and even though Merrit tries to keep an open mind, the reader will stay firmly rooted in reason and try to find other, hidden motivations for their allegation. Maybe this could have been written with more room for ambiguity, but that's a minor quibble. The truth is revealed at the end, and I believe it is the more terrifying for it because it follows a certain twisted sense of logic. The reason I have only given it four stars is that, in my opinion, it gets bogged down with dialogue a little bit too much, dialogue that doesn't reveal anything and doesn't serve any real purpose. Maybe others will feel differently.

(This revview was originally written as part of Amazon's Vine programme.) ( )