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The Loney

Andrew Michael Hurley

Start date: December 1, 2017

Finish date: December 31, 2017

Discussion: Group Reads - Fiction

Why we're reading this: Group Fiction Read December 2017
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Group Reads - Fiction

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What Members Thought

Sep 22, 2020 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Setting: London and Cumbria. An unnamed boy (some reviewers say 'Smith' but that is his surname) narrates this tale of him and his mute older brother, Andrew (Hanny), and their family's regular pilgrimage to a shrine off The Loney in Cumbria - their parents, particularly their mother, are convinced that their faith in God will produce a cure for Hanny and enable him to speak. But there are also dark forces at work in this remote and almost backward Cumbrian community, which the boys inadvertentl ...more

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Dec 07, 2021 Beth (bibliobeth) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had the pleasure of reading The Loney, a book that had been on my TBR for far longer than it should have with the lovely Lisa from @owlbesatreading and as as our first buddy read, it was a great reading experience that gave us lots to discuss. ⁣
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The beauty of The Loney is knowing as little as possible before you dive in so I’ll try and be as vague as possible. It follows our narrator, his brother Andrew (also called Hanny), their mother and father and a small group of Catholic pilgrims as they I had the pleasure of reading The Loney, a book that had been on my TBR for far longer than it should have with the lovely Lisa from @owlbesatreading and as as our first buddy read, it was a great reading experience that gave us lots to discuss. ⁣
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The beauty of The Loney is knowing as little as possible before you dive in so I’ll try and be as vague as possible. It follows our narrator, his brother Andrew (also called Hanny), their mother and father and a small group of Catholic pilgrims as they make their annual visit to a place called The Loney on the coast. The main purpose of going is to visit a holy shrine and pray for a cure to Hanny’s muteness but unexpectedly, a baby’s body has been uncovered near to the area where the family used to visit. ⁣
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Moving from the present timeline back to the 1970’s we see events that unfold at that time from the point of view of the narrator and it is filled with beautifully descriptive scenes and language which really added to the eerie and remote atmosphere and a heightened state of uneasiness. There are also multiple nefarious characters (which I always enjoy) that could have their own hidden agendas for ill will - as it is, the locals are highly suspicious and none too welcoming of any visitors. ⁣
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Andrew Hurley is obviously a phenomenal talent and a real wordsmith, forming stunning moments in the narrative which really increase tension or add to the air of mystery. I did find this novel highly enjoyable but there were some points where I just wanted more and didn’t quite understand where the story was going (this could also have been either me over-analysing or my super high expectations).⁣
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There are answers to the puzzles posed in The Loney but it might not be a resolution that you expected. For me, it was unique and intriguing but I was left with a feeling of having more questions. However, superb writing, brilliant scene setting and interesting characters - I’m excited to read the next book by this author. ⁣
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Four solid stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 ⁣
...more

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Feb 07, 2023 Rebecca Dunbar rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I got an inkling it was going to be wacky when ‘Mummer and Farther were announced’ … as many of the reviews said, much of the menace in this book rested behind things that were unsaid or implied. Very much a book of place - and in somewhat of a time warp - I thoroughly enjoyed it!

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Jul 12, 2016 Chinook rated it liked it

Shelves: europe, 1-kindle, net-galley

That was creepy. The place. Some of the characters. The isolated nature of the trip. Even the religion struck me as creepy.

That said, it felt to me like it was vbuulding up to something far creepier than it ended up being.

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Dec 22, 2017 LauraT rated it liked it

‘I don’t often admit this, Mr Smith, but I actually find myself envying my patients from time to time.’
‘How so?’
‘It’s the opportunity that a crisis can bring, I suppose,’ he said. ‘To really look at one’s place in the grand scheme of things. To identify the things that really matter. It’s so easy to bungle through life only experiencing a slender set of emotions and never thinking about why one does what one does. Who was it said, “An unexamined life is not worth living”? Aristotle?’
‘Socrates.’
‘ ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 Shelly Kinsey rated it it was amazing

This book is not horror in the traditional sense. It is true gothic, with a building sense of dread. I have never seen Catholicism depicted in such a sinister way. No haunted house is scarier than the parish church depicted in this book.

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