After Me Comes the Flood

''What surprises me isn't that we sin, but that we manage a single good action in all of our lives.''

A strange array of people has gathered in a cottage in the marshlands. An endless heatwave and the unbearable drought create a suffocating atmosphere that gives rise to the boiling conflicts between the members of the fellowship. One of them is John Cole, an enigmatic Londoner, who has found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Who are these people? Why are they there, battling a cruel summer and each other? What is the story of the houses and why does John feel watched and threatened?

''I've been listening for footsteps on the stairs or voices in the garden, but there's only the sound of a household keeping quiet.''

This is the debut novel of Sarah Perry, the astonishing writer who has given us the beautiful The Essex Serpent and the inimitable, shuttering Melmoth. As always, Perry's story is woven in rich atmosphere and symbolism. There is an eerie quietness and the ‘‘heavy'' feeling of rain that never comes. A strange name appears everywhere and must not be uttered. Questions of identity, secret desires, hallucinating dreams. Everyone's minds are occupied by a nameless threat that is lurking and the fear of a flood permeates the story. With a dreamy combination of underlying sexuality and themes of Religion, Perry creates a novel that requires patience, dedication and a certain clarity of mind.

''Where is the horse gone'', she read. ‘‘Where the rider...'' ‘‘...and where the giver of treasure...''

''Someone had broken the spine of a book and left it open on the lawn, and near the windows rosebushes had withered back to stumps. A ginger cat with weeping eyes was stretched out in the shade between them, panting in the sun.''

I won't insult your intelligence by being Miss Obvious, stating what a unique writer Sarah Perry is. This is universally acknowledged. She has taken all the characteristics of British Mystery and the effect of the atmospheric marshlands to compose a story where paranoia and seduction are highlighted by strange bird cries, fleeting visions of a woman in black and a door that must remain closed. In rich symbolism and Gothic motifs, Perry paints a story where no one moves for fear of revealing themselves and their motives.

''When I was young, it used to frighten me- I didn't think a painting should look at me like that. Sometimes I'd stand directly in front of it, and see my own reflected face laid over hers, and I would wonder which of us was painted, and who was watching whom''

Sarah Perry's novel is like a mysterious, sultry summer evening. Like all of her books, After Me Comes The Flood is a very particular story for very particular readers...

''I gave my love an apple, Igave my love a pear;I gave my love a kiss on thelipsAnd threw him down thestairs.''

Many thanks to Custom House and Edelweiss for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My reviews can also be found on https://theopinionatedreaderblog.wordpress.com/

The blurb is a little misleading, promising more sinister action than ever takes place. Despite this, it is worth a read. Charming in it's simplicity. It is a page-turner borne out of curiosity as opposed to excitement although the ending seems a little weak.I can see why it was longlisted for the Guardian's First Book Award and I can also see why it didn't win. It is expertly written and still, it has room to evolve yet hasn't. It is an excellent exercise in character building and the slow reveal of different facets of each of the protagonists.Swapping the voice between an omniscient narrator and John diarising his experiences gives the reader a bit of a change and allows different characters to be explored in other ways.I definitely liked the book, and enjoyed it, though as I have said it has some space to develop further that I would like to have seen. I would consider reading another [a:Sarah Perry 480401 Sarah Perry https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] novel in the future if it piqued my interest.

There was a distinct dreamlike quality to this book, yet you could feel the tension building. Some wonderful writing and quite atmospheric. Yet, for all that, I can't quite shake the feeling that I was reading to get to the end

I'm really not sure what to make of it. It's very strange and confusing, but also beautifully written and somewhat Gothic. I just haven't yet figured out what it's about, I guess. Might revise this rating later.