Folly

Format:	Paperback 400 pages

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Synopsis

A moving, resonant and haunting psychological suspense novel from an award-winning author. A lonely island off the northwest coast of America. A ruined folly. A woman's fight to reconstruct her life after the devastating loss of her husband and daughter. A threat from the past...Rae Newborn, shattered after a catastrophic nervous breakdown and an attempted rape, is left on a deserted island off the coast of Washington State. Her aim is single-handedly to rebuild a family house destroyed by fire back in the nineteen twenties. All she wants is to be left in peace, but memories and real life intrude. Her nights are haunted by ghosts from her past and fears that the monsters lying there will return; her days interrupted by unwelcome visits from the local police and a mysterious intruder. But her tranquillity is truly disturbed when she makes a discovery in the foundations of the house, one that throws a dark shadow over her whole family history. What really happened on the island eighty years ago? And what was the truth behind her great uncle's disappearance after his return, shell-shocked, from the trenches of the First World War? nViolence comes down through the years to explode once again on the isolated island, this time threatening to destroy not just Rae but future generations as well...

Book details

Published
15/07/2002

Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

ISBN
9780007111343

Publisher and industry reviews

Jacket review

Praise for Laurie R King: 'A compelling, effective piece of writing' Publishers Weekly (Night Work) 'Brilliantly written it is both intriguing and wholly absorbing' T. J. Binyon, Evening Standard (Birth of a New Moon) 'Well-written and totally gripping' Guardian (Birth of a New Moon) 'Pacy, skilfully layered narrative, notable for its wit, affection and unflashy know-how' Literary Review (of With Child) 'Original, and subtle' Evening Standard (of To Play the Fool)

UK Kirkus review

Emotionally fragile after a gruelling sequence of tragedy, breakdown and assault, Rae Newborn retreats to a deserted island off the north west coast of America, convinced that the way to heal herself is to rebuild an old family house there. But there is much to distract her from her purpose: the torment of sleepless nights as she parlays with ghosts from her past, the discoveries she begins to make about the true history of the house and the mysterious great uncle who lived there and the growing realization that a mystery intruder is prowling the island. The edgy, tormented but heroically brave character of Rae makes this a book, which manages to combine elements for contemporary crime novel and intergenerational history-delving, into a tense and compelling psychological thriller. (Kirkus UK)