The Girl Before is the kind of book that will put me off thrillers for life. Half way through I was sure. I just wanted it to be over, although I had to find out what happened, and maybe that signifies something. It is therefore probably unfair of me to criticise a genre that is not for me. But I have read better books in this category. The writing isn't bad but isn't good. Because it is nearly all plot.
The construction of this book dominates, almost suffocates, the story. I found Reservoir 13 pretentious, gimmicky and annoying. The interweaving of the natural world with the fragmented stories of the lives of certain people who inhabit the village (unnamed, what would you expect. But then the neighbouring village of Cardwell is named! See what I mean about being pretentious?) Of course there are no inverted commas for dialogue that is mixed up with descriptions of insects, wild flowers, the reservoirs, badgers etc., etc. These constantly interrupt and even stall the narrative and sometimes incidents are left hanging in no man's land. "Her phone beeped and when she read the text a smile opened on her face". So be prepared. There were worse than that.
Then there is the repetition. The missing girl's name was Rebecca, Becky or Bex. Yes, we know her name and we know they looked for her! Stop repeating! The fireworks, as each of the thirteen years begin. The lives of the foxes, the problems with the school boiler, more fireworks. And despite the repetition of the scenery, the tearooms, the river, the hill, the moors, the reservoirs, somehow I found it difficult to picture the place.
The prose reminded me of the short story "The Pier Falls" by Mark Haddon. Perfect for a devastating human story, but not like this. I wanted to know so much more about the characters, but they appear in very short bursts, sometimes just a sentence. There was a good idea here, tracing the life of the village through thirteen years (why thirteen?). But the author makes a hash of it. Fortunately, the last third was alittle better. There is the basis of a wonderful story in the family life of Austin and Su, and the relationship between Richard and Cathy. These would have made a great central theme for another novel. There was one page, late on that was absolutley superb.
So, fair play to the author for trying something different. Just a shame I found it so annoying.
I started thinking that if Sandy Denny had lived, this was the book that might have portrayed her life. But later, cleverly, the author lets Cass Wheeler see her in concert, and gives Sandy other name checks. Laura Barnett is such a good writer, I loved her first novel "The Versions of Us". In her new book, Greatest Hits, she plays a game with us. Cass is looking back on her life as she chooses songs from her successful career for a retrospective album. She sets us the task of finding how each one reflects a particular event.
You know, early on, from hints the older Cass gives us, that things are going to get messy. These heart breaking moments are all the more vivid for guessing what was coming. My only criticism is that, despite only a fleeting mention of her composing this type of song, there was no break-up album. There always would have been. She also mentions, very late on, "a pair of sisters from Oregon". If they are a band called JOSEPH, there are three. But this is one book I will never forget.
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