Absences and Presences: 'The Stranger’s Companion' by Mary Horlock – Book Recommendation

Two sets of clothes belonging to a man and a woman are discovered on a cliff edge in Sark. It is the autumn of 1933, and local and British press interest is piqued to discover who owned the clothing and, most pertinent of all, what happened to them. As the mystery is gradually unravelled, so are the lives and secrets of various residents in the tiny Channel Island community. Events of the past intersect with those of the present as elements of the uncanny, even the Gothic, are injected into what initially seems like an homage to classic crime fiction. We see the consequences of a golden childhood summer gone wrong and the effects of love and loss and hope and dreams. At the novel’s core are bad men mistreating women, who are portrayed both as victims and avengers. Thankfully, there are some good men too.

Based on a real-life 1930s unsolved mystery, The Stranger’s Companion is an unusual book that blends the spooky with the criminal as light is shed on family relationships and friendships. Its setting on a small, relatively isolated island is vital to the intensity of its themes, and by the story’s end, you’ll be intrigued by Sark itself and the barren, coastal wildness playing host to all these human enigmas.

The Stranger’s Companion by Mary Horlock ISBN: 9781399813150