A fiery, original novel that brings us in to the traumas of a London Jewish family, then burns them down around us. Lloyd is an excellent storyteller, connecting the nuts and bolts of the narrative with ease; which gives him free rein to explore the psychosis of this group across generations. His knowledge of Jewish history is outstanding, but never outweighs the story. Would translate well to screen, sat alongside recent modern horror titles from Ari Aster and Robert Eggers.

Tovyah is the rebel in the family as he no longer believes in the Jewish faith. His grandfather survived the war but at what price and after his death the family falls apart. Tovyah worries about his sister and the way his family’s faith impacts on her. He finds relationships difficult at university and life in general. This well written and well narrated novel (I listened to the audiobook) makes you realise not all families think as one and often come into conflict. The actions of one can affect many and cause great hurt, without meaning to. Religious beliefs are discussed openly giving an insight into others lives.

The Rosenthal family are a close group who live in North London. Yosef is the grandfather who survived the Nazi death camps. Eric and Hannah are the parents with 3 children, Gideon, Tovyah and Elsie. Eric and Hannah are devout Jews who believe in the simple truth of the Old Testament and are unable to tolerate anything other than the same from their children. Hannah is a writer who is determined to uncover Yosef’s story and write a fictionalised version of it. However she is not prepared for what she finds. Written partly from the main characters POV but also from the perspective of a university friend of Tovyah. I found it very well written and surprised to find it’s a debut. Briefly, whilst Tovyah is moving away from his religion Elsie is becoming obsessed with the darker side of Jewish mythology and after her grandfather dies she vanishes. When she reappears and without explanation she starts behaving very strangely, acting as if she is a witch and seems set on a course of self-destruction. As we follow the family over the following years we see the disintegration of their lives with a shocking climax. This is a difficult read but well worth persevering with. I enjoyed the cultural and historical aspects of the story and it is sometimes difficult to understand the level of anti semitism in the world both in the past and the present. This book lays bare some unpleasant truths. A dark family drama and a very intense piece of literary fiction. Fascinating book.

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. Inspired by Jewish folklore, this horror-style story digs deep on generational family trauma and the many sides of faith. It’s certainly a slow burn, with much of the writing focusing on establishing the Rosenthal family dynamics. I loved the depth the author goes to on Jewish practices and history, much of which I didn’t know before. I found the majority of the characters to be quite frustrating, making odd remarks and decisions that increased the further into the book I read. I enjoyed the book but felt disappointed at the ending, there was a lot that went unexplained but some readers may love that aspect of it.