Alys, Always: A superbly disquieting psychological thriller

by Harriet Lane

Frances is a thirty-something sub-editor, an invisible production, drone on the books pages of the Questioner. Her routine and colourless existence is disrupted one winter evening when she happens upon the aftermath of a car crash and hears the last words of the driver, Alys Kyte.

When Alys's family makes contact in an attempt to find closure, Frances is given a tantalising glimpse of a very different world: one of privilege and possibility. The relationships she builds with the Kytes will have an impact on her own life, both professionally and personally, as Frances dares to wonder whether she might now become a player in her own right...

• ISBN10: 0297865013
• ISBN13: 9780297865018
• Publish Date: 9 February 2012
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 22 November 2012
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
• Imprint: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 224
• Language: English

Reviews

[Lianne]

I received a copy of Alys, Always through the GoodReads First Reads program. It was an interesting read, following the protagonist Frances Thorpe as she is drawn into the lives of the Kytes following the death of its matriarch, Alys Kyte. Harriet Lane's prose can be lyrical yet precise; I look forward to her future novels.

While the secondary characters came across as predictable, lacking in the amount of character development compared to other characters, the protagonist was by far the most interesting. I'm not quite sure what to think of Frances by the end of the novel or her motives but the feeling went from sympathy to unsettling for me. Overall, I recommend this novel for those who enjoy a contemporary novel, family drama or a story featuring a rather mysterious, curious main character that will leave you guessing to the end.

My complete review of the novel was originally posted at caffeinatedlife.net (contains some major spoilers/highlighted in the text): http://www.caffeinatedlife.net/blog/2013/03/11/review-alys-always/