Reviewed by Emma Crowley
1949 It is the coldest winter Orcades Island has ever known, when a pregnant sixteen-year-old arrives at Fairmile, a home for 'fallen women' run by the Catholic Church. She and her baby will disappear before the snow melts.
2013 Frankie Gray has come to the island for the summer, hoping for one last shot at reconnecting with her teenage daughter, Izzy, before starting a job as a deputy sheriff. They are staying with her mother, Diana, at The Fairmile Inn, soon to be a boutique hotel, but when an elderly nun is found dead in suspicious circumstances, and then a tiny skeleton is discovered in the grounds of the house, Frankie is desperate for answers.
Many thanks to Orion via NetGalley for my copy of The Only Child to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Several years ago I read The Botanist’s Daughter by Kayte Nunn which I loved but since then she has somehow gone under my reading radar. But when given the opportunity to read The Only Child I jumped at the chance as it sounded like an intriguing and interesting read. It’s vastly different from The Botanist’s Daughter which was pure historical fiction set solely in the past. Here the plot moves back and forth between the past and present and the dual timeline worked very well in moving the story forward at a good pace whilst bringing the two strands together to a very satisfying conclusion.
Despite the historical elements throughout the book I did feel the blurb made it slightly misleading not in terms of the content for that was accurate but more so that I would market this as more of a crime/ thriller. For a murder is at the heart of the story which in turn opens up a whole plethora of secrets that someone didn’t want coming to the fore whilst at the same time perhaps revenge and seeking retribution or misdemeanours and suffering are at the heart and mind of someone’s motivations and actions.
I found the story to be well plotted although the pace did dip a bit in the middle before picking up speed in the last quarter or so. It was an enjoyable read with a who done it and why at its centre but as the layers are peeled back, an even deeper and more meaningful story is exposed of a time when women’s rights when it came to their bodies were virtually non existent and societal pressures meant the right and just outcome wasn’t always chosen for those that deserved. A brief prologue sets the tone as a woman is digging in the garden of a convent. The convent shelters sinful girls who have brought shame on their families as perceived by society but in reality many just got themselves into a mess and weren’t given the proper supports or an option to do what they wished or felt was right. The girls were supposedly relieved of their perceived sins when they gave birth and the babies were then adopted to good upstanding American Catholic families. But the question remains why is the woman digging and what is the background surrounding the object she places in the hole? I had previously read several books set in mother and baby homes in Ireland but never in America and to be honest I was quite surprised that this inhumane and upsetting practice occurred there. The more detail we are given as the story develops the more my eyes were opened to what went on in these homes and how unjust, cruel and unfair the whole thing was and what ridiculous beliefs were held by the nuns and so many Catholic families.
Fast forward to 2013 and Frankie Gray has arrived back to the island that her mother calls home. Her mother has bought Fairmile house and is doing it up and turning it into a bed and breakfast. Frankie has several weeks before she begins her new job as a police deputy. She is hoping to spend that time with her daughter Izzy giving them a chance to reconnect. It was several chapters before the current set up/ relationship or history between the pair was fully explained. I felt like statements were made that made me feel as if I had missed out on entire paragraphs or pages so I would have liked some clarification much earlier on instead of trying to fill in the gaps so to speak. Izzy lives with her father and I found this to be an unusual set up in that it’s normally usually the children who remain with their mother following a breakup but Frankie seemed an independent person recovering from her own trauma. Now that Izzy is on the island for a significant length of time she hopes they can reconnect and work through their issues and specifically she wants to elevate the guilt she feels at having missed out on so much in Izzy’s life. The bonds have been stretched to breaking point and hopefully the summer will strengthen them.
Little does Frankie realise that upon visiting her grandmother at the local nursing home that her summer plans may not be that peaceful after all. An elderly nun is found dead in her room. Bernadette Evans is the victim and the curious side of Frankie is sparked and she truly becomes dogged and extremely inquisitive especially when another twist occurs as a tiny skeleton is discovered in the grounds of Fairmile house. Frankie, won’t let sleeping dogs lie as she is determined to discover who killed Bernadette and why and how did a skeleton end up in the garden of the house her mother is trying to turn into a happy place? The story really takes on a creepy and unsettling feeling as subtle and somewhat unnerving warnings are given to Frankie to keep her nose out of other people’s business but to me Frankie was like a dog with a bone. Once she got her hands on something she wasn’t going to let it go. I found the plot was written in such a way that you suspected different people at different stages and at one point I thought oh I have this all worked out and the reasons for the murder and really where does the story have to go now? But I was completely wrong and I have to admit I still feel several weeks after finishing the book extremely guilty that I laid the blame firmly at someone’s door and I couldn’t have been ore wrong if I tried.
The story of the past was set in 1949 as a priest arranges for a local girl to be sent to a home for fallen women. The name of the young girl is never given and with each turn of the page you are kept guessing as to who it could be and how does said person slot into the story in the present? Again, my mind ran wild as to who it could be and I really was barking up the wrong tree with my guesses. But that’s what’s great about this book. There are so many dots to join and puzzle pieces to slot into place that you are kept on your toes throughout and left guessing until the last possible moment. A broad range of issues and emotions are tackled throughout and a light is shone on the girls time in the home. The cruelty of the nuns and their lack of care, love or any form of affection is evident.
So many girls were virtually abandoned by their families and left to live in anguish and fear at a time when they should have been looking forward to the birth of their baby no matter how they came to be in that situation. The girls were shamed by society and viewed as pariahs. They were offered no protection and the work they were forced to do at the homes and the psychological insults and physical harm inflicted doesn’t bare thinking about. How could women and men inspired to live a Godly life harbour such awful beliefs and inflict such malice, barbarity and torture on those who were going through a difficult and challenging time without further anguish and hardship being added to their lives? The sections set at Fairmile during the young girls time there were detailed and harrowing but as friendships form in the worst of circumstances you hope some form of hope and resilience can persist.
The Only Child is a book that you won’t forget in a hurry. I think despite knowing what went on in these homes in Ireland I would have been somehow less shockable and immune to some of the things I read about but its thanks to the writing and a gripping tale that I wasn’t and I appreciated the themes explored. All in all this was a great read despite the tough subject matter and I loved the fact there was the crime element which forges the link between past and present. It was a quick read for me as I was so keen to discover all the answers just as Frankie was and it’s a book I would definitely recommend. I hope Kayte Nunn decides to write something else in this vein in the future because it was twisty and clever whilst at the same time highlighting many important issues.
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