Louise Beeston is on the brink of a complete meltdown. Distraught over being separated from her seven-year-old son, Louise is already in a sensitive place. But now her neighbor’s partying has kept her up late one too many times. Exhausted, Louise attempts to once more politely broach the subject with her neighbor. Her pleas are not only ignored, she’s ridiculed by Justin Clay and his friends.
Clay takes things one step further by blasting Louise’s walls with classical pieces and finally what sounds like choral music. Choral music like that her son has been performing at the elite Saviour College School. Louise reaches out to the local authorities but becomes convinced that their efforts will be in vain. Then she hears about a new second home community just over an hour away. It would mean peace and quiet, a break from the neighbor, a chance to recover and relax. But even here Louise can’t escape the haunting melodies and hymns. Now it seems Louise may truly be losing her mind… unless there’s another meaning behind the music.
This stand alone from Hannah had all the pieces of a potentially great chiller but unfortunately fell flat. While the book begins with good character development, setting the scene for Louise’s no doubt looming mental breakdown, the overall balance of the book is disappointing.
By the time Louise starts to find out more about her mysterious choral music, the book is fully three quarters through. Ultimately the end comes on much too quickly and with very little explanation.
3/14 Becky Lejeune
THE ORPHAN CHOIR by Sophie Hannah. Picador (January 28, 2014). ISBN 978-1250041029. 288p.
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