Michelle Herbert reviews The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley…
The Loney is an intriguing novel that drifts back and forth in time focusing on our narrator’s childhood, which he recalls after seeing a news story about Coldbarrow, a place on the coast of England. The story is very atmospheric and drags you in from the start as the mystery and secrets of The Loney slowly reveal themselves, as the tension builds throughout the story.
The narrator whose name we never know – although he is sometimes known as Tonto (by Father Bernard) – lets us into his life, as he remembers two particular events centring on his time at The Loney, due to this we get to meet and learn about his family; his brother Hanny who is a mute, his mother Esther who acts piously to the point of callousness and their father who seems the least defined, but defers to his wife’s wishes on numerous occasions throughout the book (anything for the quiet life).
Tonto and his family are good Catholic’s who go to church regularly and with the Belderboss’ seem to be the inner circle of Father Wilfred’s congregation, at least in terms on who went on the previous Easter Pilgrimages. After the death of Father Wilfred, a new priest, Father Bernard takes over at their parish. There is a power struggle between the Father and Esther, between continuing traditions and innovating to allow fresh voices to be heard.
Hanny like Tonto, doesn’t have much say in what he wants or doesn’t want. Esther believes that going on these pilgrimages, (to what the locals call The Loney) and continuing the routine that they have done in the past which includes a trip to the shrine of St. Anne’s may cure Hanny’s disability and give them the miracle she hopes for. Esther’s faith is fuelled by following the rituals and never straying from her beliefs. In this she is almost to be pitied as it seems her faith would collapse without this and she is blinded to the harm she causes her family.
The Loney itself is a tidal bay that has swift changes between the tide coming in and going out. It also has a bad reputation when it comes to taking the lives of visitors unaware, so many that it is no longer news worthy. On the other side of the bay is a small island known as Thessaly where local legend says that it was the home of a witch who was eventually hanged for her wickedness.
The last pilgrimage that Tonto participates in has a more sinister tone, with nothing seeming to be how the group remember it; everything feels like it is going wrong from the moment that their minivan breaks down on the edge of the village to their feelings of isolation in the house they have rented many times before. Hanny is also more headstrong than he used to be as he grows, if not mentally, physically into a man, Tonto is still his primary caretaker and although he tries to keep him out of trouble, they get caught up in the machinations of some unsavoury locals.
The Loney has many themes including: religion and belief; faith, having it and losing it; superstition and miracles. Which may all sound like different sides of the same coin, but in this story Andrew Michael Hurley takes us on a journey that will test all of these things. It is also a story about family and belonging, which asks the questions of what would we do for our family and how far will we go to protect them?
Throughout the story there is a lot of intrigue and wrong footing, are the events in the book supernatural, natural or manmade? I liked that this is a tale that shows the everyday events of a family/small community at home and on holiday, but that this same narrative slowly twists into a tale of darkness and human suffering. Leaving us asking the question: does anyone come away unchanged? Andrew Michael Hurley poses questions on faith and belief and we constantly have to ask whether the narrator has lived their life or not, there is a loss of innocence in those memories that should be full of hope. If you are looking for a book that is slightly off kilter and definitely not what you were expecting then you may want to check this one out.
Michelle Herbert
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng&v=8k_v0cVxqEY
Originally published August 26, 2015. Updated April 14, 2018.
