The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

 

Around the World in 80,000 Pages - Book 3

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

You can read about my Around the World in 80,000 pages challenge here.

Miles travelled: 114

Pages read: 1262

Image © Adam Atkinson.
Used with permission. Utility Archive

From Shropshire, we go all the way to the north-west of England, just past Morecambe. The Loney is a fictional stretch of coast, a desolate and grey place, the setting for a gothic horror novel of the same name.

Andrew Michael Hurley is an author from the north of England. The Loney was his debut novel and initially printed in an edition of just 350 copies in 2015. It went on to win the Costa first novel award, and was nominated for various others. Hurley went on to write another four novels, all gothic horrors, and has garnered praise from many, including Stephen King and critics across the board.

The Loney follows Manny, a mute child with learning difficulties, as witnessed by his younger brother. The family take yearly pilgrimages with their church group to the stretch of coast known as the Loney, each Easter. Manny's mother, or Mummer, is desperate for him to be cured, and sees the area, and an old shrine therein, as their own private Lourdes. But there is something dark lurking in the bleak landscape..., 

The red rose of Lancashire

Blending elements of gothic and folk horror, The Loney doesn't include many original elements, but it does utilise them in a way that doesn't seem hackneyed or cliché. The plotting is tight, and the non-chronological story-telling works well, adding to the sense of dread: we know things go very wrong, we just don't know exactly how. This doesn't feel like a debut novel, it is far more accomplished than one would expect. I'm not sure what Hurley did before becoming an author, but he obviously knows his craft. I read another review that complained the structure fell apart towards the end, and didn't maintain the suspense. I couldn't disagree more. It was only in the last half dozen pages that everything came together and we learned - not exactly what happened, but enough to be satisfied.

The Loney asks questions. Of faith. Of what drives us, and what we shape as good or evil. How different are the superstitions of Christianity from those they label as satanic?

If you like gothic horror, or folk horror, I suspect you will really like The Loney. 120/140 ★★★★★

Our music for this title sticks with the religious theme of the novel, and we have a rendition of the hymn Nearer My God to Thee performed by the Londonderry Choir. Its mournful, fatalist aesthetic fits the novel, and though it is by an Irish rather than English choir, the priest who accompanies the group hails from Ireland.