 Belle Vue by C. S. Alleyne is the latest offering from Crystal Lake Publishing. The story unfolds in two parallel timelines around the titular building, once a Victorian asylum, now a modern day apartment complex. In the past we have the stories of Ellen, her half sister Mary, and their dealings with the hospital. And in the present we follow Claire, who buys an apartment in the converted Belle Vue, her boyfriend Alex and their friend Marianne. The past of course, is not yet ready to rest and pushes into the present, so the stage is set for the novel. This book can be a tough read at times. Within the first few pages we are witness to a sexual assault and throughout the story we are shown the depravity of what occurred under the guise of 'mental health'. Whilst fictional, history has told us that such cruelty was commonplace. It was these moments I found particularly affective and as such much of the horror, at least for me, was loaded into those chapters set in the past. The present day chapters unravel as a ghost story, drawing on the traditions of the gothic, with Claire at the centre of the haunting. There are glimpsed shadows, odd neighbours, phantom smells and deformed visions. Whilst all familiar territory, there is a comfort in these chapters. An homage to tradition and the ghost stories which came before. Compared to the very real horrors depicted in great detail within those chapters set in the past, some of those haunting elements in the present felt almost tame at times. However, this depends on what frightens you personally and Alleyne offers enough variants on these tropes to elicit some reaction from readers. The story is deep and features a large cast of characters and as a result character motivations seemed a little quick on occasion, which left me wishing there was more time spent in the headspace of each of them. However, Alleyne is working on a sequel to Belle Vue so we will hopefully see more from at least some of the players. Great news. Full credit to Alleyne for this debut novel. She doesn't shy away from tackling characters that are unlikeable, complicated and nuanced, and this makes for compelling reading as Belle Vue progresses. The stories, both past and present, reveal their secrets and Alleyne's use of alternating timelines is put to great effect, pulling you through the story towards a powerful and claustrophobic final act. 4/5 Review by Grant Longstaff  Jealousy. Betrayal. Murder. And a hunger for vengeance that spans the centuries... History student Alex Palmer is thrilled when his girlfriend, Claire Ryan, buys an apartment in Belle Vue Manor, formerly a Victorian lunatic asylum. But as Alex begins to discover the dark truth about the asylum’s past, he, Claire, and their friend Marianne find themselves on a nightmarish journey. Each will face the deadly consequences of the evil that began with the construction of the first Belle Vue Manor by an aristocratic French émigré in 1789, as well as the cruelty and satanic practices that continued when it became an asylum for the insane. As the two strands—past and present—unfold, Alex uncovers a supernatural mystery where revenge is paramount and innocence irrelevant—without being aware of the price he, and those around him, will pay. Proudly represented by Crystal Lake Publishing—Tales from the Darkest Depths.  Grant Longstaff is from a small, suitably dismal town in the north east of England where nothing much happens. He had no choice but to write fiction. His work has appeared in Arterial Bloom from Crystal Lake Publishing and Aurealis Magazine. He now lives in Glasgow. You can find him at www.grantlongstaff.co.uk or on Twitter at @GrantLongstaff.   Comments are closed.
|
Archives
May 2023
|
RSS Feed
|
|