Book Review: "The Fate of Mary Rose" by Caroline Blackwood

I had never heard of this book before Virago Books made it the centre of one of their tweets when the book was released - or should I say, rediscovered...I could not wait to read this number as the tagline they used was a persuasive connection to the fans of Shirley Jackson. And if there is any modern psychological writer I am a fan of, it's Shirley Jackson. I have recently been teaching The Lottery to children who really do not appreciate the depth and irony of the ending but be that as it may, I was even more excited to get back to a recent re-read of Hangsaman. So, I was even more shocked when this book by Caroline Blackwood was put out there because it is so greatly in that style that I could've sword it was a Shirley Jackson all the same! Let's take a look into the book...

The village is shocked by the murder of a local young girl, Maureen Sutton, whose death is mysterious and brutal. The crime shatters the illusion of safety in the village, setting off a wave of grief and fear among the villagers. The fact that the book starts off with insinuating that there is a murder makes it all the more eerie. As Rowan Anderson goes from his work in London back to a cottage with his wife in Beckham, he feels a sense of claustrophobia, but also his wife is acting strangely with their daughter Mary Rose - someone who she guards with her life often at the expense of the child's natural sense of wanting freedoms. This becomes more pronounced as the investigation into the murder of Maureen Sutton goes on. It is a fantastically creepy and psychologically disturbing build.

The atmosphere in the village continues to sour. Suspicion turns into irrationality as people start avoiding one another, and even normal interactions are tainted with fear. The residents become obsessed with finding someone to blame, straining relationships and driving some villagers to irrational behaviours. I think that this reminds me of both Hangsaman and The Lottery because of the mob-justice and the disappearance of a child.

It becomes even more pronounced with Cressida, Rowan's wife, becoming more and more obsessed with the murder. She goes down to the house of the Sutton's every single day so they don't have to face their grief alone. But, Maureen's father confronts Rowan, asking him to get his wife to stay away from them as they try to recover. As this happens, Mary Rose becomes thinner and thinner, often having been refused food because of a strict schedule her mother has put her on, and refused sleep as her mother tells her to stay awake to listen for foreign sounds in their garden.

As the story reaches its climax, the full toll of Maureen’s murder on the Anderson family becomes clear. The family members realise how much the murder has corroded their livelihood, symbolising the destructive power of fear, paranoia, and unresolved trauma within the community and their personal lives. Rowan's want to desperately protect his daughter results in an outburst in which he does not fully weigh up the consequences.

Whereas, Cressida's want to protect her child goes completely overboard and thus, she begins to place blame where blame perhaps does not lie. The child however, is caught in this web where both parents want what is best for her without the know-how to actually pull it off. It is a fantastically dark story about a devouring mother who puts her child in harm's way in order to signal her own virtues as a good mother and wife and, a story of a father who's lifestyle of impulsiveness eventually backfires spectacularly.

All in all, this story is dark, devilish and psychologically disturbing. Written in a minimalist style with all of the workings of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House in its unreliable and flawed narrator. If you love the books of Shirley Jackson, if you love The Collector by John Fowles and if you love psychological horror that mirrors real life panic about murder and crime, then you're most likely going to love The Fate of Mary Rose by Caroline Blackwood. Just believe me and read it. Then, you can thank me later.