The Burnt Fox
- Neil Grimmett
- Oct 16, 2016
- 1 min read
‘It really is this place and not us. There’s a dark power in nature here. Some residue left over from its great, cruel past.’
Sadly, Neil passed away in November, 2015
This is a slippery-slide kind of story about a couple whose marriage is on the decline. Donna and Eliot live on a rough, getting rougher, council estate where Eliot is a stay at home writer unable to concentrate because of neighbours and noise. After seeing an almost too-good-to-be-true advert in the local paper seeking a couple to work as gamekeeper and housemaid, and to reside in a cottage on the country estate of the aristocratic Compton family, Donna, Eliot and their son, Bradley, start an exciting new life. Swapping chaos of the council estate for the emerging madness of the country estate, might not be the best move for Eliot and Donna's marriage. The farm manager sees himself as a ladies' man and sets his sights on Donna becoming his new conquest, and Eliot starts a relationship with Rebecca, the au pair, which snowballs out of his control.
The book is very well written and the plot, which sometimes feels a little slow, is well thought out and builds to quite a gripping climax. There are some uncomfortable moments, especially around the fox hunt scenes, but is probably a realistic portrayal. A slow burner with hints of paranormal meddlings – 'it really is this place and not us.'