Title: Hinterland
Author: L. M. Brown
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
# of pages: 324
Expected Publication date: 13th Oct 2020
Nicolas Giovanni is a taxi- driver by night and solicitous father and husband by the day. He has been juggling between his taxi services, his kid, Kate, and his wife, Kathleen, who needs equal care (if not less). Kathleen had suffered a meltdown before Kate was born. But after she was born, Kathleen remained stable with medicines. Though of late she’s been reluctant to take her medicines.
After a long night, when he comes back from work, he witnesses something devastating and right after that incident Kathleen goes missing.
Ina is his brother’s wife comes back in their lives. She takes care of Kate, who is disturbed by the events of the day when her mother went missing. She never asks Nicolas what happened that day, but the equation between three changes forever.
But will Nicolas ever tell his daughter and Kate about the events that happened that changed their lives?
Hinterland is an emotional story of a father and a daughter and the decision they take in their lives to protect our loved ones.
It’s a fascinating story built in layers. As the reader progresses through the chapters, they peel each layer to reach the essence of the book. One rides through various emotions from shock to feeling insecure to understanding the depth of the plot. The story takes up the shape of mystery, and the reader navigates through these mysteries to understand the characters. The focal points of the book are its characters and their portrayal of emotions.
The central theme of the book is the relationship between father and daughter. But, also emphasises the mental health issues.
The three character’s (Nicolas, Ina and Kate) lives are intertwined in unimaginable ways. Kate, as she grows up, has questions about her mother, which Nicolas never answers. Ina raises Kate as her own, that fills the void that’s left with the inability to have a child.
Brown uses subtexts and subtle effects to implant a small yet significant concept that people change with time. Their emotions and events mould them and change them in incredible ways.
Hinterland is one of those books that will leave you in its glory. You will stay mesmerised long after it’s finished.
About the Author
L.M Brown is the author of novels Debris and Hinterland, and the linked short story collections Treading The Uneven Road and Were We Awake. Her award winning stories have been published in over a dozen magazines. She grew up in Ireland but lives in Massachusetts with her husband and three daughters.
Find out more from her Goodreads page.
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