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A review by jacki_f
Clarke by Holly Throsby
4.0
Clarke reads like a crime novel written by Anne Tyler or maybe by Mary Lawson. There is a crime and it will be solved but the book is more about the people on the periphery and the other, unrelated tragedies that have affected their lives. It has characters who you care about, it has moments of quiet humour and it has a gentle but compelling momentum.
The book opens six years after the disappearance of local woman Ginny Lawson in the small Australian town Clarke. Her husband has moved away and remarried but his former next door neighbour Leonie has never wavered in her conviction that he killed his wife. Finally after six years the police are reopening the investigation and plan to dig up the garden of the Lawson’s former home, which is now occupied by Barnaby. Barnaby is a very Tyler-esque character, struggling to fine his feet after the loss of his wife and estrangement with his son. Leonie is also touched by her own tragedy and gradually as she and Barnaby become friends, you sense that they may find a way to move forward in their lives.
The pace is a little slow – it doesn’t really warrant its 400 page length – but I still liked it very much. Leonie and Barnaby are such fabulous characters. If you like police procedurals this probably won’t be your thing but if you like books about damaged yet loveable characters finding ways to survive, I recommend it.
The book opens six years after the disappearance of local woman Ginny Lawson in the small Australian town Clarke. Her husband has moved away and remarried but his former next door neighbour Leonie has never wavered in her conviction that he killed his wife. Finally after six years the police are reopening the investigation and plan to dig up the garden of the Lawson’s former home, which is now occupied by Barnaby. Barnaby is a very Tyler-esque character, struggling to fine his feet after the loss of his wife and estrangement with his son. Leonie is also touched by her own tragedy and gradually as she and Barnaby become friends, you sense that they may find a way to move forward in their lives.
The pace is a little slow – it doesn’t really warrant its 400 page length – but I still liked it very much. Leonie and Barnaby are such fabulous characters. If you like police procedurals this probably won’t be your thing but if you like books about damaged yet loveable characters finding ways to survive, I recommend it.