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Book Review
The Earthquake Bird
by Susanna Jones
Publisher: Mysterious Press
Published: September 2001
| About the Book | Excerpt | About the Author | The Review | Where to Order |
About the Book
In the tradition of Minette Walters and Josephine Hart comes an extraordinary debut novel of dark psychological suspense and brilliantly assured craftsmanship...
THE EARTHQUAKE BIRD
The place is Tokyo. The shape of the story is a classic triangle: in this case, a Japanese man and two English women. One of the women is presumed murdered after a dismembered torso is found floating in Tokyo Bay. The man has disappeared. And the other woman is in custody, undergoing interrogation by the city's police. Lucy Fly is not quite confessing, but the story she tells is filled with painful memories and dangerous ambiguity.
Artistically sensitive and emotionally vulnerable, Lucy had left her native Yorkshire, found work as a translator in Japan—and abandoned herself to a wildly passionate affair with a brilliant, secretive photographer named Teiji. Then into this erotic idyll stepped Lily Bridges, a fellow Yorkshirewoman whose life held unsettling parallels to Lucy's, and whose seductive allure increasingly threatened her relationship with Teiji.
Now Lucy is insisting that she brought no harm to her rival. But she has no ready replies to some troubling questions: Why exactly did she flee England? What happened in her final meeting with Lily? And what secrets from both past and present obsess her waking life? As irrevocable and relentless as a seismic eruption, the answers will unfold with explosive force—taking the reader into the startling realm of a killer's heart.
A stunning achievement of literary style and suspense, THE EARTHQUAKE BIRD heralds Susanna Jones's place among the finest creators of contemporary psychological fiction.
Excerpt
"Recently, I have tortured myself by standing under railway bridges, making myself shiver when a train passes. Then I weep because Teiji's smile and Teiji's body are not there and because I'm so stupid. Then I cry more because my sobs are echoing and returning to me, showing me how foolish I am. And I cry for Lily too."
"Lily is there in the shadows of the cell's corners, in the buzzing of the light over my head, the fruit fly at the corner of my vision that may just be a speck in my eye. When I lean forward my hair flops over my left temple and then I know Lily is inside my face. Sometimes I feel I am walking not quite like myself—my steps shorter, quicker, a scuttle, almost—and so I know she's got into my legs too."
-from THE EARTHQUAKE BIRD
About the Author
Susanna Jones
SUSANNA JONES grew up in Yorkshire. Her interest in Japan began when she was at London University where, as part of her drama degree, she studied Japanese Noh theatre. This interest took her to Japan where she lived and worked for years. She received a M.A. in writing at Manchester University. She currently resides in Brighton, where she continues to study Japanese and is working on a new novel.
The Review
The Earthquake Bird slowly draws you into Lucy's madness without your complete permission. It was a bit slow to get into, but before I knew it I was intrigued with the outcome. The more Lucy reveals about herself, (often in the third person) the more twisted the story becomes. The story unfolds in a very subdued manner. Almost as if the author is holding your hand and leading you at her own pace. Revealing bits only when she wants you to truly know them, and not a moment sooner. Don't even try to guess at the outcome. It would spoil the fun.
What makes this book even more impressive is the fact that it is Susanna Jones's first. This is definitely an author I want to read more from.
~Trixie November, 2001
Where to Buy
Amazon.com
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