An audio book
Parallel timelines - one starting when she met her husband-to-be, and another starting some months after his death.
It's Oct 2016. Cat is at her late-husband Sam's graveside. She's returned to tell him that all's ok now (the "you" of the narrative is Sam). She owns several houses. She blames herself for the accident. She's remarried and is now a mother.
He was rich and introduced her to a new social world. They'd wanted children. She'd had to have a hysterectomy. Her frozen eggs had thawed. Then they were in a car accident. He died. She had a badly scarred face.
A year or so after his death she'd considered suicide. She ran a deer over (which reminded her of Sam) which led to her visiting an animal sanctuary run by Ginny. Cat started looking after dogs for money, and Ginny (50ish) introduces her (late 20s) to the singles scene. "New Horizons" (nicknamed "The Coffin Club") is a group for the bereaved. She meets Niko who has a 5 y.o. daughter Midge. He works in a care home. Because of BrExit he might have to return to Spain.
Cat once sneaked into a nursery to steal a baby (here - not for the first time - the conceit of recounting her life story to "you" blurs). She tells Niko this. She was in a mental home for 3 months.
They marry. He doesn’t want any photos of him to be online, and is nervous about social contacts in general. She and Midge get on well.
She learns that her friend Ginny has a reputation for being an animal rights nutter. Niko’s suspended from work on suspicion of “will-chasing”. She sets up a joint account with him, and changes her will. She surprises him with tickets for a holiday in Malaga (where he used to live) which he turns down. Midge tell her that Niko has a secret. Niko secretly phones someone in Spain and is taking £100s from their account.
In a creaky bit of plotting, Matteo, a friend of Niko's, appears. Niko is distant. Matteo invites her to be a Facebook friend and she accepts.
She lends Ginny (a self-harmer) £5k. It's not enough. Her place will be repossessed in 2 weeks. Niko wants to pay off her mortgage. The narrator contacts local media to start a campaign.
Matteo warns her that Elena's relatives are planning to visit the UK. She's beginning not to trust Niko (the transition from unquestioned love to distrust is too seamless). She thinks he's planning to leave with Midge.
We learn more about her upbringing - her mother's death.
She confronts Niko. He says that while he was in a boat with wife Elena and Midge, a phone message came through from Elena's rich family that they wouldn't invest in him, which caused him to brake and Elena to go overboard. Her family blames him and threatened his mother, killing her cat.
She thinks Niko is trying to poison her and runs to Ginny. Niko follows. She realises that Ginny and Niko have contrived to defraud her. Niko said it had started as a trick but now he loved her. Ginny says that actually she's doing the poisoning. Cat tells then that the money goes into a trust that Midge can use when she's 21. Ginny aims a gun at Cat, Niko intercedes and Cat gets shot. Cat runs off towards beehives, Niko (allergic to bee stings) chasing. She releases the bees and he dies. Not long after holiday tickets arrive - he really had planned a surprise holiday.
After the car accident she'd not called 999. It might have saved him.
She starts dating again, looking for widowers with young children. She's ready to use the poison on then that Ginny used to her.
Yes, Cat is an unreliable narrator, but she's presenting herself to us and "you" (her late husband) which rather blurs matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment