Sophie Hannah is a
bestselling thriller novelist but is equally recognised for her poetry. Thriller
novels aren’t generally my go-to choice of reading but when they combine a
brilliant idea with clever execution I do love them.
Little Face opens straight into the action and the plot of the novel – Alice Fancourt,
a new mother, returns home from some errands and is convinced that the baby
with her husband, David, isn’t hers. David is confused and shocked at first,
reassuring her that it is the same baby and doing everything he can to prove
it. But he quickly becomes a bully, turning against Alice and claiming she is
psychotic and deranged.
Alice tries to
convince the police that baby Florence has been abducted and to start a search,
but for a long time they are adamant there’s not enough evidence in favour of
Alice’s arguments. But as they look deeper into the Fancourt family background,
they find disturbing issues going back several years, to David’s relationship
with his ex-wife, who was killed long before Florence was born. To complicate
the dynamic further, Alice’s immaculate but interfering mother-in-law, and
Darren, the man charged with the murder of David’s ex-wife, are interrogated by
the police yielding surprising results.
I have to say that I
initially found Little Face – there’s
no other way to put it – annoying. With a concept as chilling as Hannah’s is
here, I thought there was far more potential for drama and terror – and that’s
saying something, as I’m definitely not a big horror fan. Sadly the lack of
rhythm and suspense, and a lack of awareness of the importance of timescale and
pace, meant the novel wasn’t off to a good start in my book (no pun intended…)
But Hannah surprised
me in the second half of the book where I felt much more drawn in by the events
unfolding and started to feel that Hannah had finally got a good grasp of her
own characters. The psychological torment becomes poignant and exciting, particularly
as David grows ever more brutal and degrading. The ending has just the right
mixture of fear, rush and resolution – but I couldn’t possibly give away the
liar and spoil it!
I’d love to know your
thoughts on this one if you’ve read I – are you a fan of thriller fiction?
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