Fleur Ferris, Black, Random House Australia, 27 June 2016, 288pp., $19.99 (pbk), ISBN: 9781925324976
Black isn’t Ebony Marshall’s true name, but the moniker has stuck. Seventeen-year-old Black is in her final year of high school, and can’t wait to escape the small country town of Dainsfield after graduation – but not for the usual reasons.
Everyone in Dainsfield knows that Black is cursed. Three of her friends have died in tragic accidents. Enter Aiden, a newcomer to the school, who asks her to the school formal. Will Aiden be the next victim?
Fleur Ferris, author of Risk, skilfully combines mystery, romance and suspense in Black. An eerie house in the woods holds dark secrets. Shadowy figures lurk in the background, including Father Ratchet, a community leader bent on stirring up more enmity towards Black. Ferris keeps us off-balance with hints to the town’s history: cover-ups, rumours and whispers that soon grow too loud to ignore. Meanwhile, Black is attempting to move on from years of self-imposed isolation, and Ferris chronicles her inner struggles with the same sensibility and sensitivity she demonstrated in Risk.
Questions build until the midpoint, where the novel takes an even darker turn. What is really at the root of the ostracism experienced by Black? What is the true evil in this small town? I was hooked from the first chapter, and finished the book in only two sittings, even though I am not usually a quick reader. I would have liked a little more detail about the deaths of Black’s friends, but the final resolution was well-executed, and the conclusion a satisfying one.
The writing is nuanced, and the story as well-rounded as Risk. The author’s economical prose keeps the pace brisk and the suspense never lets up. Some graphic scenes of violence towards the end definitely make this a novel more suited to readers 13 and up.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Foster
