Published By: John Murray
Pages: 320
Released On: 22/05/2025
England, 1979. Vincent, Lawrence and William are the last remaining residents of a secluded New Forest home, part of the government’s Sycamore Scheme. Every day, the triplets do their chores, play their games and take their medicine, under the watchful eyes of three mothers: Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night.
Their nightmares are recorded in The Book of Dreams.
Their lessons are taken from The Book of Knowledge.
And their sins are reported in The Book of Guilt.
All the boys want is to be sent to the Big House in Margate, where they imagine a life of sun, sea and fairground rides. But, as the government looks to shut down the Sycamore Homes, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told.
*****
Thank you NetGalley and John Murray for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and I had high hopes for it.
I was a little worried at first because there’s a lot of names in it – William, Lawrence, Vincent, Nancy, Mother Morning/Afternoon/Night, Doctors, Ministers, Villagers – and I am terrible with remembering names, but I didn’t have any problems at all.
I was confused to begin with – is it a fantasy? Psychological thriller? Historical? Character study? And now I’ve finished it, it’s a bit of everything, and with a real thriller element that I was not expecting.
If I’m honest, for the first few chapters, I couldn’t really explain what was going on. If someone asked me what it was about, I don’t think I could have told them. But I didn’t actually mind that. I might not have been able to pinpoint exactly what it was about to begin with, but that just adds to the confusion that embraces all the characters, but I loved it nonetheless.
But then at about 35-40% through, BAM! It’s all explained and I was not expecting it at all. It’s a great surprise, if not necessarily a nice one (in context of the plot and in relation to the characters). There is no doubting her storytelling ability. It’s so clever and so layered that you’re discovering bits you didn’t expect all the way to the end.
I think it’s Catherine’s character creation I loved the most, especially of the three main lads. To make them different enough to be individuals, but clearly part of a set, without it feeling forced and clunky, it was so natural and I could see them standing there so clearly.
I found it surprisingly moving. It’s uncomfortable in places, funny, and interesting. But I was really, really moved by it. It was moving in its sadness, in how normal everything felt but at the same time, as far from normal as you can get. It’s hard to explain, but hopefully you’ll know what I mean if you read it.
I own two of Catherine’s other books – Pet and The Axeman’s Carnival – but I haven’t read them yet, but this has definitely persuaded me to move them up my tbr list. I think this will definitely be a standout book, a real conversation starter, perfect for book clubs.
I wasn’t sure about it to begin with, I was a bit confused, but I soon started to love it and now I’ve finished it, I can say with certainty that this will be on my ‘favourite books of 2025’ list.
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