So Pretty by Ronnie Turner

Fear blisters through this town like a fever...

When Teddy Colne arrives in the small town of Rye, he believes he will be able to settle down and leave his past behind him. Little does he know that fear blisters through the streets like a fever. The locals tell him to stay away from an establishment known only as Berry & Vincent, that those who rub too closely to its proprietor risk a bad end.

Despite their warnings, Teddy is desperate to understand why Rye has come to fear this one man, and to see what really hides behind the doors of his shop.

Ada moved to Rye with her young son to escape a damaged childhood and years of never fitting in, but she’s lonely, and ostracised by the community. Ada is ripe for affection and friendship, and everyone knows it.

As old secrets bleed out into this town, so too will a mystery about a family who vanished fifty years earlier, and a community living on a knife-edge. Teddy looks for answers, thinking he is safe, but some truths are better left undisturbed, and his past will find him here, just as it always has. And before long, it will find Ada too.

About the author

Ronnie Turner grew up in Cornwall, the youngest in a large family. At an early age, she discovered a love of literature and dreamed of being a published author. Ronnie now lives in the South West with her family and three dogs. In her spare time, she reviews books on her blog and enjoys long walks on the coast. Ronnie is a Waterstones Senior Bookseller and a barista, and her youth belies her exceptional, highly unusual talent.

Review

‘So Pretty’ is disturbingly sinister. It is one of those books that gets under your skin and stays there like an invasive screwworm. I had to take my time with it, read a section, put it down for a few hours and come back to it. Its writing was that powerful that its uncomfortableness infected my day. I even dreamed about it.

Teddy and Ada both live in a small town called Rye and are newcomers that haven’t exactly been welcomed with open arms. Ada is a single mother and Teddy has accepted a job in the local antique shop that the locals hate. The owner Mr Vincent is hated by the town and they think Teddy is crazy to work there. Teddy and Ada become drawn to one another as they are lonely. Teddy wants to understand why the town hates Mr Vincent, whether he was really to blame for driving a family out of the town years ago. An act the town has not forgotten.

‘So Pretty’ is a modern gothic tale that is dark, twisted and disarming in it's storytelling. There is a startlingly haunting beauty to this writer’s work. It has been a long time since a book has been able to make me feel this uncomfortable. Its ability to project its claustrophobia, fear and evil are uncanny. There is a maturity to this writing that defies the author’s age. It took directions that I wasn't accepting and takes an in-depth look at how trauma can travel down the generations unconsciously and relentlessly and how we try to flee from it. This is a novel which creeps up on you, the tension building omnisciently until you can't take it anymore. It also never leaves. Even writing this review I can feel its foreboding causing goosebumps. It's a book that will stay with me for a long time.

Let me know if you pick it up!