Can we remember with accuracy something dramatic that happened thirty years ago when we were still in our early teens. I believe the narrator of "The Loney" struggles to make sense of a life changing event when his family make their annual pilgrimage to the wild Lancashire coast and the shrine there which might help his mute brother Hanny to speak at last. Whilst this novel takes a while to get going, there is always a sense of dread that permeates the story.
After an earlier break of several years (the then leader Father Wilfred puts an end to the visits and then dies in suspicious circumstances), Mummer convinces the new party under Father Bernard to set out once again for the Easter weekend. The locals are not happy to see them. Odd things happen. But are Tonto's (we never know his real Christian name) memories playing tricks? He and Hanny visit the wonderfully described spit of land called Coldbarrow, the causeway there only accessible at low tide. This is a dangerous place, the shifting sea and sands are treacherous. But it's what happens at the old house on Coldbarrow that is central to the plot, and that is where we have to make up our own minds about what actually took place, given how long ago the narrator is remembering.
I enjoyed this book and so did everyone at Book Club. It certainly provoked more discussion than most books we have read. As Father Bernard finally tells Tonto: "The truth isn't always set in stone. In fact it never is. There are just versions of it."
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