The Long, Long Afternoon could be described as Mad Men meets Gone Girl. Author Inga Vesper’s debut novel is the perfect mix of 1950s nostalgia and a thrilling and intriguing mystery, opening with the killer line “Yesterday, I kissed my husband for the last time . . .”
One hot summer day in 1959 Joyce Haney disappears from her home leaving behind two scared young children and a bloodstain on the kitchen floor. This disturbing scene is discovered by Ruby Wright, the young ‘help’. As the police begin to investigate Joyce’s disappearance Ruby knows that they are going down the wrong path; she was probably closer to Joyce than any of her other so called friends. But as Ruby is ‘just’ a young black woman, her efforts to help are dismissed as lies and instead she is treated as a suspect. However, when the case is handed over to Detective Mick Blanke recently transferred from New York, he quickly realises that Ruby could hold the key to the mystery.
It's hard to believe this is a debut novel; it is not only a tense thriller, but also a remarkable study of the lives of women and people of colour back in 1950s America. While the book doesn’t depict the full horror of what many black people experienced in 1950s America, Vesper has not shied away from describing some of the racial prejudice and cruelty that was common during that time. Some of these scenes are disturbing and reminiscent of recent tensions in the US and UK and added depth and realism to what could otherwise have been just another mystery book.
The portrayal of the main female characters is well handled. Although on the surface most of them appear to ‘have it all’: apparently devoted husbands with large salaries and big houses, they all have secrets and resentments, and as these are revealed the reader is allowed to see inside their lives and really get to know them. Again Venga has shown the truth behind the façade, that women at that time were often ignored, undermined and treated as possessions.
The mystery at the heart of the story, the baffling disappearance of Joyce, is handled well with the events of the day and the ongoing investigation being revealed from the perspective of three different characters. This adds to the thrill of discovery and I often changed my view on what had actually happened to Joyce depending on who was narrating.
Venga is also skilled at descriptions; the comparison between the lavish houses in Sunnylakes and the very basic shared house where Ruby lives with her family, emphasises the difference in lifestyles between the main characters. The distinction between having money and being a good person is well made. The vivid description of the vicious sticky Californian heat was particularly effective making me long for a change from the rain outside my own window.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, with a feel of the old fashioned ‘pulp fiction’ novels of the 1950s.
One hot summer day in 1959 Joyce Haney disappears from her home leaving behind two scared young children and a bloodstain on the kitchen floor. This disturbing scene is discovered by Ruby Wright, the young ‘help’. As the police begin to investigate Joyce’s disappearance Ruby knows that they are going down the wrong path; she was probably closer to Joyce than any of her other so called friends. But as Ruby is ‘just’ a young black woman, her efforts to help are dismissed as lies and instead she is treated as a suspect. However, when the case is handed over to Detective Mick Blanke recently transferred from New York, he quickly realises that Ruby could hold the key to the mystery.
It's hard to believe this is a debut novel; it is not only a tense thriller, but also a remarkable study of the lives of women and people of colour back in 1950s America. While the book doesn’t depict the full horror of what many black people experienced in 1950s America, Vesper has not shied away from describing some of the racial prejudice and cruelty that was common during that time. Some of these scenes are disturbing and reminiscent of recent tensions in the US and UK and added depth and realism to what could otherwise have been just another mystery book.
The portrayal of the main female characters is well handled. Although on the surface most of them appear to ‘have it all’: apparently devoted husbands with large salaries and big houses, they all have secrets and resentments, and as these are revealed the reader is allowed to see inside their lives and really get to know them. Again Venga has shown the truth behind the façade, that women at that time were often ignored, undermined and treated as possessions.
The mystery at the heart of the story, the baffling disappearance of Joyce, is handled well with the events of the day and the ongoing investigation being revealed from the perspective of three different characters. This adds to the thrill of discovery and I often changed my view on what had actually happened to Joyce depending on who was narrating.
Venga is also skilled at descriptions; the comparison between the lavish houses in Sunnylakes and the very basic shared house where Ruby lives with her family, emphasises the difference in lifestyles between the main characters. The distinction between having money and being a good person is well made. The vivid description of the vicious sticky Californian heat was particularly effective making me long for a change from the rain outside my own window.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable book, with a feel of the old fashioned ‘pulp fiction’ novels of the 1950s.