This latest edition from Paula Hawkins had me hooked from the very first pages! Some scenes sent chills down my spine, and others had me paging backwards, re-reading certain details.
I was captivated by the complex connections between the characters, wondering, contemplating, who is the main character? Is there a psychopath roaming Eris? Someone has seen it all, someone knows it all...
The Blue Hour plays out on Eris, a Scottish island with magnificent views. There is only one house on this island. When the tide comes in, the island is separated from the mainland, leaving it and its inhabitants isolated.
Vanessa Chapman, a late artist who was described by the media as being beautiful, talented, and troubled, bought the island hoping to create new and exciting art pieces.
But all was not what it seemed on Eris island... Was she cultivating her creativity or murder?
Grace met Vanessa in 1998 when Vanessa fell and broke her wrist. She was a doctor on the mainland and she immediately felt drawn to Vanessa. From her early childhood, she has always struggled to understand relationships, she often felt more than she should, and suffered from abandonment issues.
The two of them became close, so close that some even speculated that it was more than friendship.
Julian Chapman, Vanessa’s estranged husband disappeared in 2002 after he visited Vanessa on Eris following the sudden passing of his mistress.
His sister Isobel never ceased the search for him.
Grace lives on Eris now, she is the only inhabitant after Vanessa lost her battle with cancer. Vanessa left her artist estate to Fairburn, where James Becker is the curator. He is married to Helena who was initially engaged to Sebastian, the son of Douglas and Emmeline Lennox.
Sebastian was Becker’s long-time friend and employer. I questioned Becker’s morals, he grapples with his own insecurities and shortcomings, worrying that he will lose his pregnant wife in the same manner he got her.
When an eerie email arrived regarding one of Vanessa’s artwork pieces containing a human bone, Becker was tasked to set out to Eris to uncover the truth and he ends up finding more than he bargained for.
Grace entrusted him with Vanessa’s notebooks, diaries and letters. She showed him Eris and all of Vanessa’s favourite painting spots.
He soon uncovers that Eris holds many devious secrets.
“Creation from destruction takes courage, it is an act of will, it is violent, like hope.”
For those who struggle to move on after ‘unfinished business’, this ending is quite the cliffhanger. The Blue Hour has scenes of infidelity, addiction, and domestic abuse, among many others. Another thrilling read that kept me wanting more.
The Blue Hour by Paula Hawkins is available on loot.co.za
Cape Times
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