'Vervain Hollow', by Catriona Silvey
Two years ago, Laura was in a cult. But when the sprawling house in the hollow burned down with Vervain, their strikingly handsome and magnetic leader, trapped inside, Laura had nowhere to go but home. Brokenhearted, she finds herself longing for their lost leader—despite the trauma of that strange and terrifying year, she knows the power he promised her was real. But when her estranged friend, Aliyah, calls to tell her that Daniel, one of the other acolytes, has been lured back to the hollow by a message from Vervain, Laura only hears one thing: He’s still there. As Laura and Aliyah venture back to the house of their nightmares to find the truth, Laura soon realizes that not everything she remembers can be trusted—and that the darkness will do anything to get her back.
Sometimes it’s just hard to describe a story. I want to say ‘Go and read it for yourself!’ but that’s kind of the point of a review - to let potential readers know why they should. So I will do my best.
‘Vervain Hollow’ is the tale of Laura and her connection to a mysterious otherworldly commune run in a crumbling manor by charismatic leader Vervain. She managed to escape with a couple of friends, but rumours call her back once again in the hope that Vervain may still be there.
That’s the plot. But the book itself is so much more.
Laura is the ultimate unreliable narrator (no spoilers, as she admits freely that her perspective is a little warped). From the way the story unfolds through her eyes, we get a certain view of what’s been going on at Vervain Hollow - perhaps it’s like Summerisle on a small scale, or just young off-grid hippy-types smoking too much and withdrawing from reality. We fill in the blanks as we go… until we realize that it’s nowhere near that straightforward.
Like I said: So Much More.
This is a story of a girl growing up, discovering a new world off the beaten path from ‘job, mortgage, kids’ and having her eyes opened to the unexplained in ways nobody could have prepared her for. Is it about ‘stockholm syndrome’ in connection to a cult? Or are the ties of those permitted to live with Vervain far deeper than anyone could imagine?
I’m not giving anything away, but the sheer vibes of this book kept me reading late into the night, and I was genuinely sad to turn the final page. From my perspective (as a much older woman!) I wanted to yell at Laura and her friends to do the right thing, while at the same time knowing that if I’d been there at her age, I’d be exactly the same.
There is a thread of magic that runs through the story, but it’s generally subtle - for a while, it’s unclear whether Laura is just slightly mad and misremembering what couldn’t possibly have happened. Even when we then see the weirdness going on, there’s still a question in the back of our minds that suggests it’s somehow not real, that these kids are tripping or hypnotised. Vervain himself is fascinating, and it’s both a joy and a terror to gradually see the truths of him revealed.
If you like folk horror mixed with a psychological thriller, pick this up. It’s Charles de Lint with teeth, and a strong reminder that all those fairytales about not trusting those you meet in the woods exist for good reason.
Unique and brilliant.