Southern Discomfort

3/5

THE FIRE CHILD by S. K. Tremayne

The Fire Child is the second novel from S. K. Tremayne, the first being the brilliant The Ice Twins, and there are certain similarities between the two books: both have supernatural overtones, revolve around sinister children and take place in remote, creepy locations, in this case, Carnhallow: a rambling old house by the coast in Cornwall near a dangerous abandoned tin mine.

Though the history of the area is undoubtedly interesting, there is rather a bit too much of it in this novel and it sometimes gets in the way of the story, though not enough to ruin the book. There is also a lot of repetition in the book, which may be to emphasise the heroine Rachel’s fractured state of mind, but does get a bit annoying after a while and just feels like padding in the end in what – at 401 pages – is just too long: a bit of editing would have made a big difference in this case. There also a couple of plot points that I’m not sure whether the author is quite playing fair with the reader that I can’t recount without spoilers but they niggled a bit and weren’t 100 per cent convincing.

There’s more than a passing nod to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, due to the local area and the large, spooky house and clinging presence of the husband’s late wife. But this seems more of an homage than mere plagiarism and, anyway, there’s nothing wrong with borrowing from the classics and giving them a modern twist. Rachel Kerthen, the main protagonist, is great: working class (unlike her rich husband), smart and educated, she is an interesting and bold creation with secrets of her own.

Though a bit overlong and repetitive, The Fire Child is dense and detailed but suspenseful and atmospheric and will keep you guessing until the end as to what exactly is behind the various unnerving happenings in the Kerthen’s old family home.

I would like to thank Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.