Muna is 14 years
old. They think. She's been brought to Britain illegally, used by the
Songoli family who keep her in the cellar where the 'father' Ebuka
abuses her when she isn't working. One day, the Songoli's younger
son, Abiola, disappears, and Muna's world changes. The presence of
police forces the Songolis to bring her out in the open, where they
discover there is far more to Muna than they might have thought.
It's presented as a
horror story, but it is horror that is created by a deft combination
of psychological thriller and fairy tale. You begin with the obvious
comparison with Cinderella, see elements of Henry James or Arthur
Machen, and wind up with something much darker, that builds with a
intriguing kind of logic as Muna adapts to the strange world outside.
Much of the story is
borrowed from the news, and familiar headlines come to mind as you
read it. But the potential mundanity in that is overshadowed by the
construction of the narrative, from Muna's point of view, and using
Muna's language. She has learned English secretly, by osmosis, and
she has comprehended only parts of the world through the actions of
those holding her prisoner. It makes for a classic fairy-tale
narrative, from a child's-eye point of view. Her 'brothers' are Roald
Dahl-type figures, cartoonish exaggerations, but the massive presence
of her 'mother' Yetunde, with her jewellery, bonbons and domination
of her husband, is a villainous creation of chilling perfection, as
if a Disney film had taken a much darker turn.
One by one her
tormentors disappear, and the tale picks up speed when Muna deals
with the outside world, authorities and curious neighbours, while
coping with the now-crippled Ebuka. And it is here that the story has
to choose its finish, between horror and thriller. My instinct would
have been for the latter, bleaker and more chilling. But in the best
traditions of fairy tales, Walters finds a moral in her resolution,
and a chilling moral, and story it is.
The Cellar by
Minette Walters
Hammer £12.99
9780099594642
Note: this review will also appear at Crime Time (www.crimetime.co.uk)
1 comment :
Sounds interesting. I've not seen it here in the U.S. yet. This seems to be a popular theme over the past few years, person kept secluded by force. The Room for example. I wonder what it says about us that we are so interested in this topic these days.
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