Details:
- author: Caroline Hardaker
- full title: Mothtown
- narrator: Alan Cammish
- genre: literary fiction, horror
- topics: #surreal, #mentalhealth
- publisher: Dreamscape Lore
- publish date: 14 Nov 2023
- timing: 9:41:00
My Rating of the Audiobook:
- content: 💙💙💙💙.5
- narration: 💙💙💙💙💙
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| Goodreads |
Excerpt from the Book:
I turn my face into the earth and force every muscle to move. Every bone screams as I rise. Little details embedded in the earth are floating from side to side – pebbles, dangling bracken, my fingers in the soil, as if there’s a lag behind my eyes. I cover my face with my hands, and when I pull them away, they’re cupping blood. My palms are deeply lined, scored with pain. They look so old. When did I get so old? Why did I wait so long to run?
My Thoughts:
David always could tell there was something wrong. In school, there were rumors about missing people. His parents always turned off the TV when he entered the room. They protected him from some awful truth, apparently. The only person in the family who understood him was his grandfather. But he, too, one day disappeared without saying goodbye.The novel is a blend of more genres, but the one that stands out is literary horror. As we read, we often feel that we don’t fully understand what we’re reading. The novel has a dark, almost suffocating atmosphere. We often await what comes next on the next page (or in the next few minutes of listening). There is no blood, zombies, or monsters in the story. There are no ghosts or other creatures. The creepiness comes mostly from the writing itself.
Mothtown is a very well-written book, constantly building suspense and leaving us in the dark. Throughout the entire reading, we perceive that something has not been told to us, that there is something important we don’t know.
Caroline Hardaker is a talented author. I have to check her other work.
About the Author:
Caroline Hardaker lives in the north east of England and writes quite a lot of things. Caroline’s debut poetry collection, Bone Ovation (2017), and her first full length collection, Little Quakes Every Day (2020) were both published by Valley Press. Caroline’s debut novel, Composite Creatures, was published by Angry Robot in April 2021, and is nominated for Debut of the Year at The Kitschies 2022. Caroline’s poetry has been published worldwide, most recently in Magma, The Interpreter’s House, The Emma Press, Neon Magazine, Shoreline of Infinity, Eyewear Publishing’s Best New British and Irish Poets, and Contemporary British Poetry from Platypus Press.
