Gloam by Jack Mackay

13 yr old Gwen is the protagonist of Jack Mackay’s debut novel, Gloam. Like the rest of her family including step-dad Henry, Roger aged 10 and the 6yr old twins, Hazel and Hester, the Oakworths have sold their home to pay for their late mother’s medical bills.  They'd be destitute without inheriting Grandma Fenn’s old house on Gloam Island. That's where they’re headed to grieve and move forward.

But without Grandma Fenn the old house including ‘The Well’ and the ‘Rickety Den’ treehouse are derelict and spooky – they love all her antique collectibles but don’t quite remember so many painted eye amulets in every room. Henry and Gwen haven’t finished arguing about whether a babysitter should be necessary while he’s at work daily off-island, despite Gwen demonstrating capable and responsible care-giving throughout their mother’s long illness. In no time at all Esme Laverne arrives offering her services, which Henry accepts.

Gwen knows something is not quite right about the attractive new babysitter but her instinctive mistrust is dismissed by everyone in the family as an understandable defiance toward a ‘mother replacement’. It doesn’t take long for Esme to show her true colours to Gwen only; and the rest of the book sustains the tension, everyone else being enamoured by Esme. Esme is skilled at gaslighting and blaming Gwen to divert from the truth. Transcendental talking trees, cats and natural elements assist Gwen in convincing her clueless family about the evil which had prompted Grandma Fenn to fill her house with protective amulets.

First Gwen saves her own amulet when Esme insists they all be removed. With every new scare or tragedy in quick succession, will the captivating Gwen succeed in convincing her siblings and Henry that they are all in danger. The demon and the reanimated monsters drawn from the children’s dreams are spine-chilling to weaken them for consumation.  Gloam can get pretty dark but it is also heart-warming. We are horrified but hopeful that Gwen’s family, individually or collectively, can confront their darkest fears with the courage to defeat evil.  256p.

Themes: Grief, Fear, Anxiety, Siblings, Resilience, Sark phantasy psychological thriller, Horror, Fantasy, Superstition.

Deborah Robins