Imagine you're watching a play that's being narrated by its unhinged director. That's Alex Michaelides's The Fury in a nutshell. And it's captivating. The narrator, in this case Elliot Chase, addresses us, his audience, often, which makes good use of foreshadowing and has an engaging effect.
Lana is a Hollywood movie star living in London who stepped out of the limelight years earlier to focus on her son when her first husband dies. She owns a private island in Greece called Aura, left to her by her late husband. The island is beautiful but the furious winds there are notorious, and locals think it cursed. She decides to take a last-minute trip there to escape London's poor Easter-time weather.
Attendants for the foray include Lana's sulky second husband Jason; her seventeen-year-old son Leo; Kate, Lana's best friend who is a stage actress; Agathi, Lana's longtime housekeeper who has a nose for trouble and predicts something's in the air; Nikos, the island caretaker who lives there year-round; and Elliot, a playwright and the narrator of this tale. Twenty-four hours after arriving, one of them will be dead.
Throughout the story, Elliot reveals he has omitted things which he then circles back to explain, creating a labyrinth of a plot and setting us up for some punchy twists. As he says at one point, "A good rule of thumb, you know, when telling a story, is to delay all exposition until absolutely necessary". To good effect.
Elliot reminisces in his narrative that he had longed for love his whole life; for the scared, ugly kid inside of him. He also feels like the Tin Man in 'The wizard of Oz', minus a heart. Or better yet, he thinks, like the wizard himself, an illusion. This paints a vivid portrait of Elliot and is prophetic for what happens.
In Michaelides's acknowledgments, he expresses gratitude for Agatha Christie's novels (and others) which inspired him. Her influence is clear here. Elliot says at one point about playwriting that character IS plot: that idea is illustrated in this novel through its nuanced, three-dimensional characters. This novel of deceptions, obsession, and yes, love, was pure enjoyment! I give it five stars out of five.
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