A review by evangeline_miller
The Haar by David Sodergren

4.0

“Muriel Margaret McAuley was eighty-four years old the first time she saw a man turned inside-out by a sea monster. You might think it would bother a woman of her age, but, as Muriel was fond of saying, she had seen a lot in her eighty-four short years.” 

The story follows 84-year-old Muriel McAuley, one of the last residents left in Witchaven, a small fishing village off the coast of Scotland targeted for redevelopment. She’s up against the Grant Organization, led by a power-hungry American real-estate mogul determined to build on the fragile coastline (a not-so-subtle nod to a certain ex-US president). I loved how the book balances intense body horror with the hardships of aging, and Muriel’s frustration and powerlessness really resonates. It’s definitely worth a read, even if the dialogue felt a bit melodramatic at times.