The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.
"It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is."
The Loney is Andrew Michael Hurley's first novel fiction debut which was the winner of the 2015 costa first novel award and the 2016 British Book Awards Book of the Year.
"If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney - that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest.
It was impossible to truly know the place. It changed with each influx and retreat, and the neap tides would reveal the skeletons of those who thought they could escape its insidious currents. No one ever went near the water. No one apart from us, that is.
I suppose I always knew that what happened there wouldn't stay hidden for ever, no matter how much I wanted it to. No matter how hard I tried to forget . . "
The Loney follows a family travelling to the north of Scotland for a religious pilgrimage as part of their church group accompanied by their churches new priest, narrated by a young alter boy who cares for his mute bother.
The story and characters were enjoyable and somewhat captivating at times although the character names themselves were a problem as I had to ask my friend to help me distinguish who was who seeing as the brother is named Andrew by everyone but the narrator, who had the nickname for him of Hanney but this is never really touched on but expected to be understood. Also the father to the children is named Farther while the priest is referred to as Father throughout. So there was some confusion at first which wasn't a good start.
The mystery of what happened to the previous priest is a great side story which expands more as the story progresses and I was impressed by that storyline.
As I got closer to the end of the novel I was waiting, expecting for a big finish or something exciting to happen but when something did come along it was a little disappointing.Maybe I shouldn't have come in with expectations but between my higher hopes and it's less than exciting finish I wasn't blown away with this title.
Overall I think it was a good read and I'm glad I read it, I just think it would have been best to have started it with no preconceived opinions.
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