Home Before Dark
A sister tormented by guilt investigates her sibling’s disappearance in Eva Björg Ægisdóttir’s beguiling psychological thriller Home Before Dark.
At fourteen, Marsí corresponded with a pen pal, Bergur, using her elder sister Stína’s name instead of her own. In time, though, she became suspicious that Bergur was lying about his age. Then Stína went missing.
In 1977, Marsí faces the ten-year anniversary of Stína’s disappearance. She thinks that her letter writing may have been responsible. An insomniac, she broods; she also has trichotillomania and perturbing visions of violence. Her mental state is ambiguous: her mother insists that she was always unreliable. Then a letter arrives from Bergur, reigniting her fears.
Marsí returns to her remote Icelandic childhood home in search of answers. Its eerie cellar yields clues about Stína, including diary pages. Marsí’s fragmented memories about the past intensify, and her confusion grows. Her family’s abattoir and egg farm unsettle her with grisly images of chicken flesh, and her parents are cagey in response to her questions.
Some chapters are narrated from Stína’s point of view prior to her disappearance. Her thoughts are consumed with social gatherings, art, and feelings that she has outgrown her town, fueling curiosity about whether she left on her own. Stina’s thoughts spill into Marsí’s narration, dialing up the suspense: Stina learns about her mother’s postwar history; in the present, Marsí does as well. Marsí also interrogates Stína’s classmates and renews friendships with a few, despite the discomfort of knowing that she can’t replace Stína.
With sharp twists and explorations of the damaging loyalties that warp those they’re meant to protect, the chilling, unrelenting noir novel Home Before Dark follows a missing persons case that masks enduring traumas.
Reviewed by
Karen Rigby
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