Into the Darkest Corner

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Good lord, if he’s ever released again he needs an ankle bracelet that goes off if it even gets into the same town as her! I stayed up late last night reading this book, had a nightmare (as I thought I would, I think I even heard my self screaming or crying, right before I woke up. She's unsympathetic and dreadfully dull (she spends the majority of her pre-abuse time partying and flirting and nothing else, really -- she's about as interesting as a pretty block of cheese). It starts so gradually with what looks like a good relationship and even your friends are jealous of your luck and really, there might have been room for complaint about your behaviour and what was asked (well, demanded) didn't seem that unreasonable. At least this time, though, Cathy has an ally, a neighbor who’s just moved to the apartment above her, Stuart.

Watching the main character's OCD moments was painful but seeing her gradually pick herself up and work towards a normal life was so pleasing.I was given this as a gift for christmas and was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel and Elizabeth Hayne's ability to craft such a gripping tale.

I had real pleasure reading something so dark; not often do you find a book so disturbing and yet so enjoyable to read. To be honest, it kind of creeped me out, like a whisper just behind my left ear with nary a hint of a mouth or an individual to explain the voice I heard.

It got to be a bit tedious and I skimmed entire chapters of the exact same thing over and over again. I can understand why her steps were haunted by this man who claimed to love her but almost broke her in two, and when he finally got out of prison the novel became quite intense. Into the Darkest Corner was the third of my annual ‘Nano’ novels and it was the first one that had something like a proper ending. The prime players are fully developed with the changes from happy Catherine to crippled Cathy appallingly frightening.

I was guilty of having very fixed ideas about violence in the home and the sort of people who were victims of it, and this stereotype was challenged in every way by the reports I was analysing.The difference between young, carefree Catherine of before and anxious, OCD suffering Cathy is shocking and it should probably come with a trigger warning for domestic abuse as the descriptions of it are visceral, but I recommend it as a great read.

This is such an accomplished debut novel, quite gritty and confronting, it is very tense and a real page turner. In the beginning of the book you know that something happened, something that made her completely different person, but you don't know how exactely and why. It took me a while to get past Cathy's OCD routines and the way the book was written, alternating from past to present day, but as I kept reading, I found I could not stop wanting to find out what Cathy's psycho control freak boyfriend was going to do next, and WHAT AN ENDING! The main character, Catherine Bailey, tries to overcome her trauma in the present while still dealing with the scary fact that her ex-boyfriend, Lee, who almost killed her is still very much alive.

It's a disturbing story that doesn't skimp on violent details, which might make it something you'd want to avoid if you are particularly sensitive to scenes of domestic abuse and rape. On a night of usual fun with her friends, she locks eyes with a gorgeous man that draws her in and changes all her ways but not for the right reason. There’s real dramatic tension in this book and when I got to the end the first thing that I did was to turn back to the beginning again. None of the women, including her best friend, are strong or reliable people or a good friend to her until they are personally attacked themselves.