The Unseen

by Katherine Webb

[Leah]

The Unseen by Katherine Webb is a novel that wouldn’t normally catch my eye; I’m not much of a historical fan, however during this year I’ve read a couple of books that have a historical aspect to them, that move from the present to the past, and I’ve found them to be massively enjoyable. I like how the stories merge, how the past and present were so different from each other and it can be somewhat startling to read about the early 1900s and comparing them to just how much it’s changed now that we’re in the 2000s. So when I received a copy of The Unseen, I thought it sounded fascinating. I haven’t read Katherine’s debut novel, though I have it on my Kindle, but after reading the really, truly, outstanding The Unseen, I will be reading The Legacy as soon as possible.

The Unseen is set in both 1911 and in 2011. It starts with a letter sent in 1911 from Hester Canning, to her sister, Amelia, before we spool forward in time to 2011 where Leah (weirdest feeling ever, reading a character with your name) Hickson, a freelance journalist is asked by her ex, Ryan, to come out to Belgium because the War Graves Commision has found a dead, unitentifiable soldier. No one knows who the soldier is, but he has two letters on his person, letters that hint of bad things that happened, letters that could perhaps unlock who this man is and what his relation is to the sender of the letter, H Canning. So as Leah sets about figuring out who the solidier is, and as she tries to figure out what that has to do with the Cannings, we go back to 1911 and we learn all about the Cannings, and all about the servant girl, Cat Morley, who came to stay with them for the summer of 1911, where their lives changed forever.

I’d say that three-quarters of the novel is set in 1911, with interruptions back to the present only to see how Leah is getting on with the investigation. I found the jump back to the present day to be unobtrusive and I thought it really added to the enjoyment of the novel, that it wasn’t simply a novel set in 1911 about a summer where things went haywire, but that there was an actual reason for us to be reading about that particular summer. I found the story of the Cannings and of Cat Morley to be massively intriguing. I wasn’t sure at first, but I soon found myself absorbed in the fact that Cat Morley wasn’t like many servants, that she wanted to make a difference and be her own person, rather than just a servant. It both intrigues me and makes me sad to know how life was just a mere 100 years ago. I mean, that’s not REALLY that long, in the grand scheme of things and yet to read about how women were treated makes me sad, but it also makes me thankful. After all, it’s because of women like Cat who mean that I have freedom as a woman today. Cat was so, so fascinating and I liked how bold she was.

The Cannings are also interesting. Reverend Canning is obsessed with Theosophy (you’ll have to read the novel/Google it because I still don’t really understand what it is) and when he invites Robin Durant, himself a theosophist, into their home, it changes not only the Cannings lives, but Cat’s, too. From what I understand of theosophy, from what happens in the novel, I don’t really give much truck to it, and I thought it would hamper my enjoyment of the novel, but it actually didn’t. Instead of overthinking the beliefs of Reverend Canning and Robin Durant, I just allowed them to believe that what they thought was true, and instead I just enjoyed the novel for what it was. Which was an absorbing novel that had a lot of different threads to it. (And if you think I’ve talked a lot about the plot, believe me, there’s much more to the novel than I’ve written about; these are merely just snippets and aren’t spoilers at all.) There’s so much going on with the book and as it all got to its conclusion, I found myself reading faster and faster and getting more excited to finally find out the truth of it all!

The Unseen was just a really, brilliant read. I just enjoyed it so, so much. The writing is excellent; Katherine Webb is brilliant at weaving a story and the addition of the 2011 aspect was just perfect for the novel, giving it a balance and a purpose and making us eager to learn more about what happened in 1911 as Leah unravels it, too. I found myself hooked and I couldn’t help rooting for Cat throughout the novel, she really managed to capture me. The whole novel was just superb. I was kept on tenterhooks from start to finish and the ending did not disappoint. It was just one of those books where everything was great; the beginning, the middle, the end, all excellent. Sure the whole theosophy thing was mildly confusing (to say the least) but I was able to get enough from it to be aware of what I was reading so it wasn’t so bad. I hugely recommend this book and I look forward to going back and reading Webb’s first novel, because if it’s half as good as The Unseen, then it, too, will be a triumph.