Saturday, March 5, 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Cuckoo by Julia Crouch

Title: Cuckoo


Author: Julia Crouch

Publisher: Headline Fiction

RRP: $29.99

ISBN: 9780755377985

Release Date: March 2011

Pages: 416



Description:

This is an utterly gripping psychological drama for reading groups, in the vein of Sophie Hannah.

A dark, juicy, deliciously unsettling, read-it-in-one-sitting psychological drama.

Rose has it all - the gorgeous children, the husband, the beautiful home. But then her best friend Polly comes to stay. Very soon, Rose's cosy world starts to fall apart at the seams - her baby falls dangerously ill, her husband is distracted - is Polly behind it all? It appears that once you invite Polly into your home, it's very difficult to get her out again...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After a drama degree at Bristol University, Julia Crouch spent ten years devising, directing and writing for the theatre. During this time she had twelve plays produced and co-founded Bristol's Public Parts Theatre Company. She lives in Brighton with her husband, the actor and playwright Tim Crouch, and their three children. CUCKOO is her first novel

Review:



Cuckoo is the story of a well to do woman called Rose, who does have a challenging past she is trying to put behind her. Through a lot of hard work she has built a perfect life with her husband, two children she adores, and a country house she’s always dreamed of.

A call from Greece starts a series of events that begin to chip away at this perfect life. The call is from her best friend Polly, telling Rose that her husband has died. Rose does what any good friend would do and invites her to stay with them, against her own husband’s wishes.

Polly is obviously very troubled, and whilst they seem complete opposites, they obviously shared a troubled past, and there are very close ties although some of those ties appear to include subtle blackmail!

Cuckoo is a dark, unsettling read about a woman’s life rapidly going out of control. It’s a fantastic debut by Julia Crouch.

No comments: