Title: The Blue Hour
Author: Paula Hawkins
Pages: 336
Publisher: Transworld Digital
Release Date: 10th October 2024
Blurb from Goodreads:
The masterful new thriller from the global No.1 bestseller and one
of our most powerful psychological storytellers.
Eris,
an island with only one house, one inhabitant, one way out.
Unreachable from the Scottish mainland for twelve hours each
day.
Once home to Vanessa. A famous artist whose
notoriously unfaithful husband disappeared twenty years ago.
Now
home to Grace. A solitary creature of the tides, content in her own
isolation.
But when a shocking discovery is made in an art
gallery far away in London, a visitor comes calling.
And
the secrets of Eris threaten to emerge . . .
Goodreads | Storygraph | Amazon UK | Amazon US | Bookshop
My Review:
*I received an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK*
There is a Scottish island called Eris that is only accessible from the mainland at certain times of the day.
The island was once inhabited by Vanessa, a famous artist who had a tumultuous relationship with her husband who went missing.
Grace now lives on the island - a friend of Vanessa's whose isolation is about to be disturbed by a visitor who will unearth memories and secrets best left buried.
This was my first Paula Hawkins novel, and I wasn't sure what I would make of it, but I did enjoy the book overall.
There are essentially three protagonists - Vanessa, the artist who passed away several years ago and whose perspective we see through her diary entries; Grace, a doctor, who became friends with Vanessa and later lived with her; and Becker, a fan of Vanessa's work who is involved with the institute that now owns Vanessa's work. Vanessa, Grace, and Becker were all quite different, and it was interesting to find out more about them.
The setting of Eris was eerie and very isolated. It certainly added to the atmosphere of the book.
The plot was enjoyable, if a little predictable. I found the ending disappointing and a little pointless.
I found the writing style engaging and it was very easy to keep reading.
While I am maybe a little disappointed I didn't enjoy this more, I would definitely consider reading another novel by the author.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read.
