The Loney: the contemporary classic

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Born in 1975, growing up near Preston and still living in North West England, a frequent visitor of the coastal edges - Hurley’s prose is prominently touched by place. His work could appear interlaced with a seam of sashaying, mysterious moodiness moving in from the environs which inclines his writing style and subject matter so well to the Gothic genre.

This shining star of a book has been so thoroughly praised I feel like a heretic in raising my lonely voice in disagreement! A group of religious pilgrims embark to the Loney, an isolated and stormy coastline located a few hours away from London in England, with the intention of visiting a shrine and curing Hanny, a mute teenage boy who suffers from severe learning disabilities.Mummer is messianic, looking for the wrong sins in the wrong place. She is devoted to the point of being unhinged, and you fear for the mute Hannay. The rite of tenebrae is performed in an ancient church, the ceremonial "increments of darkness" shadowing the faithful's journey towards the unspeakable. The church is decorated with medieval Doom paintings and depictions of the seven deadly sins.

If it had another name, I never knew, but the locals called it the Loney - that strange nowhere between the Wyre and the Lune where Hanny and I went every Easter time with Mummer, Farther, Mr and Mrs Belderboss and Father Wilfred, the parish priest. The Loney is part of an English Gothic tradition running from the nuanced dread in Wilkie Collins to the ersatz satanic menace in Dennis Wheatley. There is an uncovering of ancient lore, powerful pre-Saxon forces lurking beneath the surface. The old rites are priapic and amoral. There is a need for runes and charms of warding. Atmospheric, but very slow paced, never felt like I got a good understanding of the characters, except for the religious themes. Actually there is much of this book I didn't quite grasp. Dark, gothic story telling, well written, strange, I really think The Loney, that place is the main character. What happens there is up to interpretation, I have my thoughts but wonder what other readers will think. That being said, this novel also comes with a lot of religion, and while I didn't mind that, I didn't relate much to it either. Religion is a focal point to all characters in this story and it's an important part of what they say and do, but it is mingled with a mysterious atmosphere where you get a lot of foreshadowing but no real answers (until the very end). Flood, Alison (9 May 2016). "Debut novel The Loney wins book of the year at British Book Industry awards". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 August 2017.Miracles. Bodies. Death. Superstition. Hidden Rooms. The Loney. Then there is the..something, the something. Oh my word. I'm truly lost for words where the ending took me. It took much reflection on the entire book, beautifully written. Now... for the weak parts. When I started this book, I was loving the slow build-up, it was so beautifully layered and I was so intrigued as to where this was going to go. And then... I just feel like it never really went anywhere. This devastates me because this book had SO much potential. The writing is stunning, the setting is well-crafted, the characters are believable, and yet... the plot itself just falls flat on its face. The ending was semi-interesting, but it just wasn't enough to save it for me.