A wonderfully engaging and enjoyable story with a fantastic leading character. Cassandra Darke is a disgraced art dealer having been found to be running a fraud involving one of the artists she represented. When Cassandra checks the basement flat that her niece Nicki had lived in, she finds something vey unexpected. Something that pulls her out of her routines and involves her in a most unexpected way with the life of an unknown stranger.
Cassandra Darke is a huge character; she is appalling and is well aware of it just not in the slightest bit bothered. She is living life on her terms and everyone else will have to make the adjustments around her. She is piercingly honest about herself and her actions, she is very self-aware and has an equally sharp eye about others. The supporting cast are all in her shadow, Posy Simmons never lets them be shadows. They are all lively, full of energy and interest. They are living life as best they can, and they make mistakes that they will have to pay for. There is a deeply sad event at the heart of the story knot and Posy Simmons never treats it as just a handy plot device.
The warmth of the storytelling sits lightly over the steely sinews of the story, Posy Simmons has a deep sympathy for her cast, but she never lets them away with anything. This tension draws the reader in deeply to the story and bring them to the satisfying conclusion
The art is subtle, expressive and a huge pleasure to read, the expressiveness of the cast in their features and their body language is astonishing. It does not draw attention to itself, if captures the reader gently and pull them along into the story and the lives of the cast. The subtleties of the art are there to be savoured. The soft lines do not shout out the sharp edge of the story, they are revealed by the cast in their actions and reactions.
A great story and an outstanding comic, Cassandra Darke is a terrible person who grips the reader in the way that only the best of fiction can do.
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