When you first meet her, you can only pity Marion. She’s in her fifties, plan, overweight. She’s never dated, let alone married, or even held down a job. She helped take care of her mother until her mother’s death and now she haphazardly keeps house for her brother, John. Marion is timid, anxious about any kind of responsibility, and spends hours day dreaming. But as the chapters unfold in Catherine Burns’ The Visitors, it becomes clear that Marion is capable of a lot more than anyone realizes.
The first chapters of The Visitors reveal a pair of siblings who inherited enough money that they don’t need to work who live in a mouldering house full of clutter. Marion leaves everything of importance to John. John, however, is much more interested in whatever he’s been up to in the cellar (which Marion is never allowed to enter) and spending time down the pub. Marion spends her days day dreaming about past crushes or thinking back to scenes from her childhood. The more we learn about Marion’s family, the more sinister it seems. Her mother is a germaphobe. Her father was a lech. If Marion had been a bit brighter, she would have realized that her brother’s “hobbies” are an awful lot like a warm up for becoming a serial killer.
While the title of this book pulls the reader’s attention to the crime element of this story, I found it impossible to take my eyes off of Marion. From the first chapters, I was psychoanalyzing her—only to read something that would completely throw off my amateur diagnosis. What fascinates me most about Marion is how she lies to herself. Because we’re in her head for most of the book, we can see how she deliberately refuses to see things that might be upsetting. Later, we learn about memories she has suppressed because it doesn’t fit her persona of a frightened, prematurely old lady who just wants to feel loved by someone.
By the end of The Visitors, Marion is anything but an object of pity. The transformation this novel brings about in her character is astounding to watch. Each chapter or scene or scrap of an email brings another clue as to what’s really going on in Marion and John’s house. The ending is bold and chilling and absolutely perfect for this twisted family tale.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for review consideration. It will be released 26 September 2017.