The Tell-Tale Heart - Jill Dawson

'I'd like to go back to my old self, to my old life, but I have a curious, powerful certainty: my old self won't have me.'

A clever and interesting tale about a heart transplant, giving us an insight into the lives of both the donor Drew and the recipient Patrick, plus a third, historical voice, Willie, further back down the lineage of Drew’s family. It's fascinating to consider whether the recipient does indeed take on some sense of the donor in these instances, the idea of the heart carrying some sort of memory with it I suppose.

When I first started reading, it took me a little while to warm to the story and I did put the book aside for a few days and come back to it. When I persevered a little futher, I found I really became drawn into the story much more, and I enjoyed it more and more from about a third of a way through onwards.

I loved the setting, the Fens; I do enjoy a novel where there is a strong sense of place, and I also liked the symbolism of the owl. I liked the insight into both lives that the author gave us. Patrick, as was the author’s intention, is not a particularly likeable character, he's a womaniser, he barely seems to know his son, but it is fascinating to observe the changes in him over the course of the story. I was drawn more to Drew’s character, his youthful energy and lust and his painful experiences. 

I really enjoyed seeing Jill Dawson discuss this novel at the Cambridge Literature Festival and I’ll definitely be reading more of her back catalogue as well as looking out for future novels.

Thanks to Amazon Vine for the review copy.