The American Dream is not all it’s cracked up to be in this historical crime thriller
The Long Long Afternoon is set in 1959 Californian suburbia. Joyce is a housewife with two young children, a troubled past, and a desire to escape her seemingly perfect life. She is also a talented artist, who has rarely been able to paint since she married. Ruby, the ‘help’, is paid a pittance to clean the white middle class homes, and is often an ignored witness to the dirty secrets behind domestic walls. Mick is a disgraced detective, transferred to Sunnylakes following a case gone wrong. When Joyce goes missing one afternoon, leaving a small pool of blood in her otherwise spotless kitchen, Ruby and Mick form an unlikely alliance to get to the heart of the mystery. But for Ruby, there is far more than her reputation on the line.
One of my favourite things about this book is the immersion in the time and place. What is seen as the American Dream has a dark underbelly; sexism and racism seep through society and the plot of this book. The story is set during the Civil Rights Movement, while the housewives of Sunnylakes push for their voices to be heard through the Women’s Improvement Society. Ruby is excluded from the meetings of both groups for either her gender or race.
While the chapters mostly switch between Ruby and Mick, you also hear from Joyce’s perspective on the day she goes missing. These three characters are well placed to tell the story in an interesting way, keeping the tension and mystery open until the end of the book. Ruby and Joyce are both likeable characters, who I so desperately wanted to see be okay and succeed. Mick in his own privileged way is a little ahead of his time, and genuinely wants to find the real truth, rather than blame a convenient scapegoat.
A brilliant, sharp, gripping debut. I look forward to reading more from Inga Vesper in the future!
One of my favourite things about this book is the immersion in the time and place. What is seen as the American Dream has a dark underbelly; sexism and racism seep through society and the plot of this book. The story is set during the Civil Rights Movement, while the housewives of Sunnylakes push for their voices to be heard through the Women’s Improvement Society. Ruby is excluded from the meetings of both groups for either her gender or race.
While the chapters mostly switch between Ruby and Mick, you also hear from Joyce’s perspective on the day she goes missing. These three characters are well placed to tell the story in an interesting way, keeping the tension and mystery open until the end of the book. Ruby and Joyce are both likeable characters, who I so desperately wanted to see be okay and succeed. Mick in his own privileged way is a little ahead of his time, and genuinely wants to find the real truth, rather than blame a convenient scapegoat.
A brilliant, sharp, gripping debut. I look forward to reading more from Inga Vesper in the future!