As a therapist, Jessica Mayhew is used to treating clients with odd quirks. Gwydion Morgan is a charming up and coming actor whose father is a famous playwright. He’s come to Jessica ostensibly to treat insomnia and a button phobia, out of fear that the two may hurt his budding career. He soon reveals that he’s also been struggling with a recurring nightmare, one in which he seems to be trapped in a box while hearing yelling and splashing outside.
As their sessions progress, Gwydion tells Jessica that he’s been remembering more and more of the dream, which seems now to be a memory of something quite disturbing: when Gwydion was a boy, his nanny drowned in a tragic accident. The dream would suggest that not only did the young Gwydion actually witness the event, but that it wasn’t actually an accident at all.
Charlotte Williams’s debut seemed like it had all the right pieces to be a great mystery. Unfortunately, it did not live up to its promise. The story was a bit dry and held few surprises.
1/14 Becky Lejeune
THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF by Charlotte Williams. Bourbon Street Books (January 7, 2014). ISBN 978-0062284570. 352p.
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