A Book A Week

"Hope. Such a meager consolation for people who have no way out."

A few years ago, Karen Dionne's novel The Marsh King's Daughter flew onto the scene and demanded to be read and loved. It had the perfect combination of thriller elements and strong characters, all brought together by a narrative that mirrored a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. I was completely enamored with the book and shared my love for it with just about anyone who would listen to me. Needless to say, I was anxiously awaiting the release of whatever Dionne came up with next. I waited and waited until earlier this year, her publisher finally reached out with an ARC of her latest novel, The Wicked Sister. I jumped at the chance to read it, and I'm pleased to say that it does not disappoint!

When we first meet Rachel, she is speaking to a spider in her room. It sounds crazy, but she's always been able to speak to animals. Well, maybe it actually is crazy. You see, she has spent the last 15 years as a patient in a mental institution, not for talking to animals, but for something much darker. The facts surrounding the events that landed her there are not exactly clear. Both of Rachel's parents were shot dead in the secluded cabin in the woods that the family called home. Whether she simply witnessed the killings or was the one who pulled the trigger is unclear. Even murkier are the days that followed. Rachel ran from the scene and was swallowed by the rugged wilderness only to emerge with no recollection of how she survived in the harsh weather and unforgiving environment. Therapy and medication have done little to open her memory. She is 26 years old and shows no signs of ever being able to leave the institution. All signs point to a lifetime of isolation in the clinic until a young reporter and brother of a fellow patient presents her with information that could change everything.

Chapters of Rachel's present day situation alternate with those of the past. Jenny is a young mother facing a difficult reality. A small neighbor boy tragically drowned in their pool, and Jenny's daughter Dianna seems to have witnessed the event. At least that's what Dianna says happened. Jenny fears something much worse. She found her daughter in soaked clothes and had to change her into a dry outfit before the authorities arrived. Determined to leave the past behind, Jenny and her husband decide to quit their jobs and take up residence at his family's cabin. Isolated from the rest of the world, Jenny hopes to provide Dianna with an upbringing that is safe and enriching. She hopes this different approach to parenting will give her daughter a chance at being normal. But as time progresses and Dianna acts out in new and often horrific ways, Jenny must face the truth. She is raising a psychopath.

In The Wicked Sister Karen Dionne writes another twisted thriller that shocks and terrifies. She does a fantastic job weaving the two seemingly separate narrative threads into a unified whole, building suspense as each perspective reveals more and more that impacts the other. The Wicked Sister is often dark and uncomfortable to read, but a story about a psychopath should be uncomfortable. Dionne relishes in the passages that make you squirm, terrified to read on but unable to look away. She balances these with strong and engaging characters that help propel the reader through even the most harrowing sections. Like her previous novel, The Wicked Sister sees Dionne use the setting of the rugged cabin and surrounding wilderness to great effect. It almost becomes another character in and of itself, a vast and foreboding spirit that permeates each page. As I started this book, I wasn't sure what I was getting into, and nothing could have prepared me for the intense journey I was beginning. The Wicked Sister cements Karen Dionne as on of my must-read authors and will no doubt be one of my favorite thrillers of the year.

For more information visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2020, 34)

Helena had a very unique childhood. Her beginning was dark, born from the forced relationship between her mother and her mother's captor. She grew up in the small cabin in the marsh shared by her mother and father. Helena could never understand the disdain her mother showed her dad. To Helena, her father was everything. He showed her to hunt, track, and fend for herself in the harsh wilderness. He taught her all the skills that he employed in maintaining his own anonymity. It wasn't until she was twelve years old that she saw her father for who is really was.

It has been years since Helena first escaped the clutches of her dad. She's built a new life for herself in the home she once shared with her parents. Helena's husband and two daughters have no knowledge of her unusual past. How could she tell them that her father was the notorious Marsh King? But past and present suddenly collide when a state trooper comes knocking on her door. Her father, who has been locked away since she was twelve, has killed a couple of prison guards and escaped. There's no question in Helena's mind that he'll come for her. She is the only person left alive that he cares for. She may be the only person in the world who can stop him.

The Marsh King's Daughter has been on my radar since its publication. The book has garnered nearly universal acclaim, and I began reading it with high anticipation. Fortunately, the novel lives up to all of the hype. Karen Dionne builds her story in conjunction with a Hans Christian Anderson tale. Each chapter begins with a portion of the fairy tale before proceeding with the main narrative. I'm normally not a fan of the back and forth, but this one works really well. There are many flashbacks to Helena's childhood that read quite similar to the sections about Jack in Emma Donoghue's Room. Dionne takes her character a step further by exploring the effects of a traumatic childhood on her character as an adult. Both the past and present are completely engaging and Dionne keeps the suspense rolling until the very end. Equal parts triller and character study, The Marsh King's Daughter is one of the best books I've read this year.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.

(2017, 46)