TITLE: Rainforest
AUTHOR: Michelle Paver
PUBLISHER: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 978-1398723207
PODCAST EPISODE: Coming soon
REVIEWER: Mark Norman
Spending some of my life working in a public library, I see the impact of Michelle Paver's children's books regularly. She is, perhaps, less well known in some quarters for her adult fiction but it is certainly no less impactful. Michelle has developed a reputation in the ghost story genre, and Rainforest builds on this.
Amongst Michelle's earlier titles, I have previously examined her Gothic novel Wakenhyrst and Dark Matter - a terrifying tale set in the Arctic. The latter has firmly established Michelle as being masterful in two very distinct areas. One is by instilling an horrific creeping dread through isolation. The other is simply this. Michelle Paver can write some truly unpleasant male protagonists.
Michelle's male leads are frequently unlikeable and unreliable as narrators or characters. And yet, somehow, we can still invest in them. We are scared for them. We worry for them. We even end up giving them some sympathy. When I interviewed Michelle as a guest at the UK Ghost Story Festival, I asked her how such a lovely lady could write such horrible men. I'm not sure that I really have an answer even now! Hopefully, it is not through personal experience.
Where Michelle does draw on past knowledge however is in her settings. This was true of Dark Matter and is equally so with Rainforest. Michelle, as well as being an excellent researcher, has also spent some time in similar environments and so her descriptions are evocative and skilfully executed.
Michelle Paver's ghosts are rarely overt and in-your-face. Terror lies in the corner of the eye, or just off the edge of the page. Like the most effective ghost movies, it's the psychological impact and the slow picking away that worries your mind and your senses which gets you every time.
If you are a fan of Michelle's work, you won't be disappointed by Rainforest. If this title is your introduction to her ghost stories, then seek out the other titles. But if you are venturing into the depths of the lonely countryside, look behind you now and again.
AUTHOR: Michelle Paver
PUBLISHER: Orion Publishing Co
ISBN: 978-1398723207
PODCAST EPISODE: Coming soon
REVIEWER: Mark Norman
Spending some of my life working in a public library, I see the impact of Michelle Paver's children's books regularly. She is, perhaps, less well known in some quarters for her adult fiction but it is certainly no less impactful. Michelle has developed a reputation in the ghost story genre, and Rainforest builds on this.
Amongst Michelle's earlier titles, I have previously examined her Gothic novel Wakenhyrst and Dark Matter - a terrifying tale set in the Arctic. The latter has firmly established Michelle as being masterful in two very distinct areas. One is by instilling an horrific creeping dread through isolation. The other is simply this. Michelle Paver can write some truly unpleasant male protagonists.
Michelle's male leads are frequently unlikeable and unreliable as narrators or characters. And yet, somehow, we can still invest in them. We are scared for them. We worry for them. We even end up giving them some sympathy. When I interviewed Michelle as a guest at the UK Ghost Story Festival, I asked her how such a lovely lady could write such horrible men. I'm not sure that I really have an answer even now! Hopefully, it is not through personal experience.
Where Michelle does draw on past knowledge however is in her settings. This was true of Dark Matter and is equally so with Rainforest. Michelle, as well as being an excellent researcher, has also spent some time in similar environments and so her descriptions are evocative and skilfully executed.
Michelle Paver's ghosts are rarely overt and in-your-face. Terror lies in the corner of the eye, or just off the edge of the page. Like the most effective ghost movies, it's the psychological impact and the slow picking away that worries your mind and your senses which gets you every time.
If you are a fan of Michelle's work, you won't be disappointed by Rainforest. If this title is your introduction to her ghost stories, then seek out the other titles. But if you are venturing into the depths of the lonely countryside, look behind you now and again.