TITLE: Verge
AUTHOR: Nadia Attia
PUBLISHER: Serpent's Tail
ISBN: 978-1800810150
PODCAST EPISODE: Episode 134
REVIEWER: Hilary Wilson
Two hundred and fifty European Starlings fell dead from the sky on the day Rowena Murray was born – a certain sign, according to her mother, that Rowena has been marked by Death Itself. After the death of her father, her mother pays one of her workers, Halim, to drive Rowena to the Murray family’s ancestral home of Culcritch. There, she claims her grandmother will be able to remove the curse from her. If it isn’t removed before the Summer Solstice it will be stuck forever, and Death will certainly find her.
Nadia Attia’s debut novel, Verge (Serpent’s Tail, May 2023), portrays a post-Brexit United Kingdom devastated by climate change and isolationism. Travel requires passing through checkpoints at the borders of each county. Halim and Rowena both have their own reasons behind their long journey. But, forced together in the confines of Halim’s truck, they find that perhaps they have more in common than either had originally thought.
Attia draws heavily upon British folklore and superstition. Halim, an atheist, learns about Attia’s more traditional pagan beliefs as the book goes on. Traveling through the country together, they observe a variety of moots and initiation ceremonies. Rowena teaches him about charms and hagstones, and he realizes that he has some of his own superstitions although he never characterized them as such.
Rowena and Halim are fascinating protagonists. Both attempt to distance themselves from past guilt and find a way to a future that modern-day society doesn’t necessarily want them to have. Rowena has found a new way to exist via navigating the world through the lens of older traditions. And although Halim struggles to understand it over the course of the book, he does seem to find a similar balance within himself.
The book presents a nuanced understanding of how traditional practices can be both helpful and destructive. There is a valuable balance to be found between blind belief and practicality - and Attia depicts that deftly. Overall, Verge is a wonderful debut novel by a vibrant author. Pick up the book for the stark folk horror and get drawn in by the riveting protagonists across an all-too-familiar landscape.
AUTHOR: Nadia Attia
PUBLISHER: Serpent's Tail
ISBN: 978-1800810150
PODCAST EPISODE: Episode 134
REVIEWER: Hilary Wilson
Two hundred and fifty European Starlings fell dead from the sky on the day Rowena Murray was born – a certain sign, according to her mother, that Rowena has been marked by Death Itself. After the death of her father, her mother pays one of her workers, Halim, to drive Rowena to the Murray family’s ancestral home of Culcritch. There, she claims her grandmother will be able to remove the curse from her. If it isn’t removed before the Summer Solstice it will be stuck forever, and Death will certainly find her.
Nadia Attia’s debut novel, Verge (Serpent’s Tail, May 2023), portrays a post-Brexit United Kingdom devastated by climate change and isolationism. Travel requires passing through checkpoints at the borders of each county. Halim and Rowena both have their own reasons behind their long journey. But, forced together in the confines of Halim’s truck, they find that perhaps they have more in common than either had originally thought.
Attia draws heavily upon British folklore and superstition. Halim, an atheist, learns about Attia’s more traditional pagan beliefs as the book goes on. Traveling through the country together, they observe a variety of moots and initiation ceremonies. Rowena teaches him about charms and hagstones, and he realizes that he has some of his own superstitions although he never characterized them as such.
Rowena and Halim are fascinating protagonists. Both attempt to distance themselves from past guilt and find a way to a future that modern-day society doesn’t necessarily want them to have. Rowena has found a new way to exist via navigating the world through the lens of older traditions. And although Halim struggles to understand it over the course of the book, he does seem to find a similar balance within himself.
The book presents a nuanced understanding of how traditional practices can be both helpful and destructive. There is a valuable balance to be found between blind belief and practicality - and Attia depicts that deftly. Overall, Verge is a wonderful debut novel by a vibrant author. Pick up the book for the stark folk horror and get drawn in by the riveting protagonists across an all-too-familiar landscape.