An empty house, a lonely shore, an enigmatic, brooding man-child waiting for her return ... a trip to the dark lands of Australian Gothic, for readers of Kate Morton and Hannah Richell. Last night I dreamt I went to Sargasso again ...As a child, Hannah lived at Sargasso, the isolated beachside home designed by her father, a brilliant architect. A lonely, introverted child, she wanted no company but that of Flint, the enigmatic boy who no one else ever saw ... and who promised he would always look after her.Hannah's idyllic childhood at Sargasso ended in tragedy, but now as an adult she is back to renovate the house, which she has inherited from her grandmother. Her boyfriend Tristan visits regularly but then, amid a series of uncanny incidents, Flint reappears ... and as his possessiveness grows, Hannah's hold on the world begins to lapse. What is real and what is imaginary, or from beyond the grave?A mesmerising Australian novel that echoes the great gothic stories of love and hate: Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, and especially Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca.
Australian Gothic in a stunning coastal setting
Kathy George's debut novel, Sargasso, is true Australian Gothic literature, recalling such classics as Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre and Agatha Christie's spooky standalone Endless Night.
After twenty years, Hannah Prendergast returns to "Sargasso", the cliffside house her father designed for the family, and where they lived up until his untimely death when she was twelve. She's been left the house by her beloved grandmother, who's recently died. The isolated Sargasso has been tenanted during the intervening years, and is badly in need of a spruce up, before Hannah decides whether to keep the house or sell. On leave from her job as an aged-care nurse, and in need of recuperation herself, Hannah moves into Sargasso, her Melbourne-based partner, Tristan, visiting on weekends.
The narrative shifts back and forth, between Hannah's childhood experiences at Sargasso and the present day. As a lonely but highly imaginative child who's grown into a troubled and anxious woman, she makes the perfect unreliable narrator. From the moment she arrives back at Sargasso, Hannah feels the mysterious pull the house has on her, but also the sense that the house is somehow alive. The more time she spends in and around the house, the more her memories of her childhood experiences in the house are piqued. She recalls her childhood friend, Flint - a boy with whom she shared an intense attachment between the ages of seven and twelve. When the now-adult Flint appears one day at Sargasso, she's thrilled to see him again.
But Flint remains an enigma, arriving at the house just as suddenly as he departs. And he's curiously possessive of Hannah, imploring her not to leave the house and disparaging any visitors who dare to interrupt their solitude. Their childish camaraderie begins to morph into an all-consuming adult passion. Inevitably, Hannah's relationship with Tristan deteriorates, as she feels torn between the two men. As Hannah gradually uncovers the truth behind her father's death and the nature of her own psychological relationship with the house, the atmosphere of spooky tension rises, the reader questions what (and who) is real, and what is the product of Hannah's fevered imagination?
Kathy George's dual-timeline narrative is well-paced and integrated, allowing the reader's insight into Hannah's personality and her complex relationship with Flint to gradually unfold over the course of the story. Supporting characters, including Hannah's partner Tristan, her older sister Kelly and several local personalities, anchor the story, providing a context for Hannah's more nebulous perspective.
The setting of Sargasso, a stunning but neglected structure in a spectacular but dangerous location, is wonderfully developed by George, very much in the tradition of Manderley (Rebecca), Bly (The Turn of the Screw) and Thornfield Hall (Jane Eyre). The house and its surrounds are central to the developing drama - there's a palpable sense of sadness, verging on menace, from the moment Hannah sets foot back inside the house.
Sargasso is an engrossing and, at times, spine-tingling read. Highly recommended for those who love slow-burn thrillers with plenty of gothic intrigue.
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Sarah, 06/02/2021
