A gripping psychological thriller
Natalie Haynes explores the affinity between teenage and ancient Greek angst in her debut novel.
Reviewer: Ischke de Jager
E-mail: Ischke@caxton.co.za
Book: The Amber Fury
Author: Natalie Haynes
Publisher: Corvus
Rating: A gripping novel that keeps you guessing and enthralled until the end.
When Alex Morris loses her fiancé in dreadful circumstances, she moves from London to Edinburgh to make a break with the past.
Alex accepts a job at a special school, commonly referred to as ‘The Unit’ – it takes on the students expelled from other schools in the city.
These are troubled, difficult young people and Alex is an inexperienced teacher, terrified of what she’s taken on.
There is one class – a group of five teenagers – who are particularly intimidating.
However, with the help of the Greek tragedies she teaches, Alex gradually develops a rapport with them.
But one of her students is learning more than Alex ever intended to teach.
Finding them enthralled by tales of cruel fate and bloody revenge, Alex even begins to worry that they are taking her lessons to heart, and that a whole new tragedy is being performed, right in front of her.
The Amber Fury is a beautifully constructed psychological page turner.
It is a dark mystery of a novel about loss, obsession and the deep and abiding human need to connect. – @IschkeBoksburg
