‘Fragile’ is a standalone novel by Sarah Hilary. I have read some of her D Marnie Rome series and they are exceptional. This is a different genre so I didn’t know how good it would be but I jumped on the tour when I got invited.
Fragile is a dark story that actually gave me goosebumps at certain parts of the book. We meet Nell Ballard, someone who has no idea how it feels to have unconditional love. An abandoned child by the age of eight, by her mother and placed in a foster home with a foster mother who only cared about the pay packet she gained for fostering. Nell made up for what she lacked by becoming a surrogate mother to her foster sibling.
As Nell attempts to find her identity and somewhere she belongs she falls for 17-year-old Joe Peach a runaway and existing with addiction. They find themselves homeless and on the London streets. Nell finds she can’t rely on Joe who will manipulate any situation to get hold of a fix. She decides to have a fresh start and ends up a housekeeper at Starling Villas working for Doctor Robin Wilde who is an eccentric recluse. We see Nell with a home again, one in which she has rules and has to work hard for her wage, a very similar thing to what she did in foster care.
Starling Villas is a haunting and foreboding place. The imagery that Sarah Hilary brings to mind is a cold, dark house that really caught my imagination. As the story unfolds it begins to turn darker and we become privy to some heartbreaking backstories too.
Sarah Hilary for me, has created a fabulous story that incorporates, love, tension and disappointment all skilfully blended to create this story with gothic undertones that kept me invested. Her characterisations are spot on. They all have their unique flaws but they jump out at you and their flaws make you want to know them. A cleverly written eerie and atmospheric novel I highly recommend.
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours, Pan publishers and NetGalley for my copy of the book.
sharonbeyondthebooks.uk 