Until We Drown by Ava Morwood
I would like to thank Harper North for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher – Harper North
Published – Out Now
Price – £16.99 hardback 99p ebook
Hold your breath, the truth will surface…
When Ellie Kellaway and her family seek a fresh start in the tranquil Peak District, she hopes to leave behind her haunting memories of the sea – and of Ethan’s affair with the younger, beautiful wild swimmer he met there.
But Ellie’s new home harbours dark secrets, where ancient legends of mermaids intertwine with chilling realities. As eerie occurrences unfurl, Libby, the youngest, is drawn to a grotesque mermaid carving hidden in their house. Strange sightings of a mysterious woman outside only deepen Ellie's unease. And when their dog Jasper goes missing, the family's descent into darkness accelerates.
As more ominous tales and truths rise to the surface, it becomes clear that the mermaid's curse might be real. Ellie’s family is fast becoming entangled in a web of betrayal and vengeance, which threatens to drown them all…
The phrase fairy tale has so many uses these days. Still used for children but even adults are told to seek them. Perfection, happiness and that precious happy ending are things we seek. But a fairy tale is also designed to be cautionary, to be on occasion troubling and unexpected. In Ava Morwood’s enthralling new thriller Until We Drown a family’s fresh start in the Peak District is laced with local legends, hidden secrets and a sense that no one will have a happy ever after.
Ellie Kellaway, her husband Ethan and their Zack and Ellie have moved from Whitby to a small house in the Peak District countryside. For Ellie this is a chance for the family to heal and move on, but very soon strange events arise. The area is filled with local legends of mermaids trapped in local pools that await the unwary to come near it. Ellie starts to see the figure of a strange woman at night, and the family is filled with rising suspicions.
I hugely enjoyed reading this as Morwood has an excellent ability to make us feel something is very wrong and something very bad is going to happen. Ellie as our narrator is a big part of that as we initially get her full of optimism in a new home but then we get to find she has just hidden her youngest child’s favourite toy a mermaid. Ellie clearly adores her family, and yet little comments and thoughts all suggest she is glossing over something. Morwood achieves this with Ellie recalling the past as a series of ‘postcards’ snapshots of a happy family. Thriller readers may be troubled when we find Ellie is traumatised by a death she saw as a child and a grandmother who saw ghost. Ethan whom she met in university helped her get through all of this but perhaps now the past is coming back to haunt her? She got the happy ending and handsome prince she wanted for so long. The reader questions if we can trust Ellie and the revelation her husband had an affair adds to the concern the consequences are still following the family
Just when I thought I knew the likely type of story I was in then Morwood adds a touch of the supernatural. Beyond a gran who sees ghost Ellie notices that her home has a carved mermaid in the wall and soon she is told of the local legends of various Meres in the area where a woman hurt by love, jealousy or grief went to a pool and the unwary traveller who goes near it will be attacked and never seen again. This starts to link in with the strange figure Ellie sees at night and her young son and little dog suddenly both seem very much not themselves. Both go missing. The reminder that folklore is often something less cute and more cautionary makes the atmosphere even murkier and we exactly wonder who is under a spell.
What impressed me though is all the elements flow together to give us something a little different. Morwood smartly creates a story nestling in between the two styles above and it all flows together logically and yet still carries an emotional punch. Love, desire, fear and trust are all key emotions being explored in this story and the reader should be impressed how all the revelations and reveals we witness all combine to deliver a particularly dramatic finale where the long-awaited consequences unfurl and yet keep us guessing as to the final outcome.
Morwood has created a modern dark fairy tale for adults. A cautionary tale where everything is never quite what it seems; that happy endings don’t always last forever and to be wary of dark pools. A great story to add a further chill on a summer night and highly recommended!
