Book Review: There Came A-Tapping, by Andrea Carter
Strong women and the fear of men
First off, let me say that I have admired Andrea Carter’s writing ever since her first novel, Death at Whitewater Church. Since then she has written five other books in the Inishowen series, all delightful, classy and clever.
There Came A-Tapping is a standalone, and a brilliant, thoughtful, twisty-turny thriller, which manages to startle you with an entirely unexpected ending that is at the same time just exactly right. You can almost hear the deep satisfaction of everything clicking into place as you come to the very last page.
The book is set in contemporary rural Ireland, and is centred around a cottage to which the protagonist, Allie, has been forced to come and live after a series of traumatic events - her parents being killed, her flat in Dublin being rented out, her boyfriend suddenly disappearing. It is all too much for Allie, and initially we see her curling up into a tiny psychic ball, supported only by the rescue greyhound her boyfriend left behind.
Gradually, though, as the book unfolds, we see Allie becoming increasingly intent on finding out about the cottage she is living in, and the wise woman, Eliza Dunne, who once lived there. Called Raven Cottage, the house is at first dirty and chill, with a flock of ravens constantly hovering nearby. But, as Allie finds new confidence, the cottage, from seeming threatening and inimical, becomes solid and welcoming - or is it the ghostly presence of Eliza that is drawing Allie in? And are the ravens her tormentors or her guardians?
As Allie explores the figure of Eliza Dunne, both through an investigation of her history , and through an imaginative reconstruction of her life, she, and the reader, are brought to think about the position of women, then and now, and how so much of their lives seem to have been constituted by the fear of men - by fearing men, and by being feared by men.
A brilliant, deftly written and cunningly constructed book, and very well worth reading.