I was hugely impressed by Ronnie Turner's previous gothic thriller, So Pretty but in Small Fires she takes everything up another level and this is an exceptional read.
The alternating 'Her' and 'Him' chapters follow Lily Pedley and Silas Mair, whose separate stories gradually become fiendishly intertwined. Lily and her older sister, Della arrive on a remote island bearing a terrible reputation. Following the shocking deaths of their parents, they have faced fevered speculation and persecution as the media and public debate whether they were responsible for the double murder. Without enough evidence to charge them, the sisters have fled to a place which is as notorious as they are. There are numerous stories told about the strange Folk who inhabit the island and the mainlanders who have been haunted by the sounds of piercing screams and an epidemic of laughter carried over the water are terrified of the place.
However, as peculiar as the residents may be, the monsters in the story aren't necessarily found among the Folk. Lily's beauty and love of small children is in marked contrast to Della's imposing stature and her constant admonitions to Lily to "mind me". As Lily recalls the twisted games the sisters played as children and the disturbing stories Della recounted to her, it becomes clear that something dark has tainted them both. Lily, though, begins to befriend Silas who is the only ordinary person on the island but the chapters told from his perspective which look back on the cruel interactions between him and his older sister, Gaia, strangely mirror the warped relationship shared by Lily and Della.
Small Fires is really about the power of stories and the atmospheric sense of place lends itself perfectly to this. The islanders believe the devil fell to the earth on the island and never left. They try to appease him but fear has impregnated the place like a poison. Meanwhile, the stories told to Lily and Silas as children are dark and violent; in her superbly imagined, original legends, Ronnie Turner captures the brutally malevolent lyricism of old myths, fables and fairytales beautifully. However, the truly abhorrent deeds perpetrated aren't in these tales but in homes and against bodies.
Ronnie Turner never shies away from exposing the worst of human behaviour and while nothing is gratuitous, it is worth mentioning that sexual assaults and the subsequent guilt, horror and rage form an important part of the narrative. Small Fires is an intricately plotted, multilayered novel which explores themes such as possession, jealousy and familial toxicity with piercing insight. As the novel progresses, the sense of foreboding becomes increasingly unsettling and with innocent lives at stake, the battle-lines between good and evil are often chillingly blurred.
Featuring a cast of superbly rendered characters – while Lily, Della and Silas give the book its black heart, islanders such as the reclusive Brid are grotesquely compelling – the striking descriptions of the island itself bring it so vividly to life, it also becomes a character in its own right.
This sinister, intriguing folk horror novel worms its way under your skin; Small Fires is a brilliant, compulsively haunting read which will stay with me. I very highly recommend it.
Small Fires is published by Orenda Books. It can be purchased directly from their website, further purchasing links can be found here.
Follow the blog tour, details are below.
About the Author
Comments
Post a Comment