We Close Our Eyes by Sarah Colliver

 Engaging, Gripping, Intriguing

Contemporary Fiction/Mystery

We Close Our Eyes by Sarah Colliver Writing

We all have elements from our past that we really ought to avoid repeating, but when it involves changing who you are as a person and starting a whole new life, it requires a commitment on a whole other level. The first question you should perhaps ask yourself is: Are you fully committed to this change, and secondly, are you willing to do what is required to achieve this objective? What if resisting the urge to slip back is too appealing, and what you had to do to affect that change is too easily overlooked, forgotten? It might start out promisingly, full of good intentions, but there are so many other options….aren’t there?!

In this novel, the Author initially lulls you into a false sense of security, presenting the reader with a likeable, non-descript female central protagonist, with a plausible reason for re-locating to a charming English village. She secures a job in one of two, it seems of the village shops and we are introduced to her boss, Dan who seems non offensive. But then we learn he clearly has some nasty people on his back and a very difficult home life with a wife who has had and possibly still has a substance abuse problem, but they are obviously not short of a bob or two, the majority of which she enjoys spending. Dan fiercely resents his wife (who it would seem also spends much of her time naked) as she appears to have very little involvement in the making of their money, but everything to do with squandering it, having lived the high life previously and having no propensity to relinquish that lifestyle. However, when she decides to randomly pay the shop a visit one day and quite deliberately upsets her husband’s new assistant, she sets off a chain of events that no-one could possibly have foreseen.

The way in which Sarah has constructed this book is really skilful, with an initial, respectable take on village life sitting happily on the surface, whilst something much darker and sinister bubbles underneath. Shelley acknowledges something disturbing from her past, but seems glad of the chance to put it behind her, and in setting the scene for the first plot twist, there appears to be no real sense of her developing attachment, or undercurrent of her other ‘self’. The real first indication is when Dan’s letters from Joan and Jackie reveal how their neighbour seems to acting out of character.

How Dan unwittingly talks himself into more trouble than he was originally in during his initial police interview, was a well devised unexpected development which was revealed gradually, so as the reader, I felt the impact on Dan. As more truths are unearthed, the charges against Dan, much to his delight, appear to peel away. However, his realisation then that he is in fact left to face the remaining charges brought about by his own careless tongue, assuming that Colleen’s behaviour would absolve him of responsibility, comes as an unforeseen blow.

Shelley’s obliviousness that Dan is in cahoots with Joan and Jackie is quite satisfying, and builds suspense waiting for Shelley to discover the trap that is being constructed, when she has spent so long thinking that it is she who has got one over on her neighbour and employer.

The only element of the story which I think was a little unexplained was Joan’s dislike of Shelley from their first meeting. It leaves me wondering if details of his niece’s former life were ever disclosed by her Uncle Des to his neighbour and friend.

The sequence of events played out by all the characters who, although they are a small cast, all equally play vital parts, build this intriguing and, tense at times, storyline to a chilling conclusion and makes for a thrilling read.