You would think that "never judge a book by its cover" would be a lesson that a middle-career librarian wouldn't need to learn.
In fact, the reverse is true. Librarians are very accustomed to picking up clues about a book based on its cover (genre, for one. Small details like the name of the author and the title, for another) so sometimes we make snap judgements that aren't borne out by the book's contents.
I am guilty of doing this very thing with the latest novel from the much celebrated and admired, Catherine Chidgey, The Book of Guilt. Chidgey will be discussing her novel at WORD Christchurch 2025. A session I am keen to attend. But back to the book.
I took one look at the world "guilt" in the title and the bright, 1950s era beach scene on the cover and thought "It must be Catholics*. Some kind of 1950s family drama, probably".
To be fair, Chidgey's last book, "Pet" did have a lot of nuns in it and was set in the 1980s so that probably influenced my conclusion jumping a bit too.
Reader, I got it very, very wrong. Because, although familial ties and parents are important in The Book of Guilt, these are by no means traditional, loving families - things in the world of this story have gotten very twisted indeed.
From the get-go things are a little bit "off" and they only become more so as the tale continues. We are introduced to Vincent, one third of a set of identical triplets with his brothers Lawrence and William, who live in some sort of institutional home, the nature of which is quite mysterious, at least in the beginning.
The brothers are cared for by three "Mothers", Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon, and Mother Night, in a large country house that previously held many other boys. They are the last, the others having been cured of "The Bug" and "graduated" to a life of seaside fun and adventure in Margate or sadly succumbed to it.
It becomes clear very early on that while this world bears many similarities to ours its set in an alternative 1970s Britain, one in which Hitler was assassinated, and WWII was ended by a Treaty rather than outright victory by the Allies. Some scientific developments that have not so far come to pass in our world have in this one, and it's hinted that these grew out of brutal Nazi concentration camp research. But it's all very vague, and hand-wavey in that "don't talk about the war" kind of way.
The boys, for their part, have grown up in a sort of splendid isolation, knowing only of the world what their "Mothers" have told them or what's present in their children's encyclopaedia. They know no other books. No Hardy Boys mysteries. No Very Hungry Caterpillar. No Beano.
But the absence of books is not the only thing of concern as things progress quickly from strange to decidedly creepy. There is a dark current of things unspoken, questionable deeds, and dishonesty running through this story. Chidgey is an expert in the art of the tease - dropping little hints here and there that give you the sense that you are moving further and further into the darkness of the woods. As more and more information about the triplets' origins and the purpose of the Home they live in come to light both the reader and Vincent start to acquire a dark, and perhaps unwelcome, understanding. All is not well and Vincent and his brothers are in danger.
The Book of Guilt is a slow burn of a read to start with as you get your head around the world-building and mystery and creepiness of it all but before long it becomes a gripping, unputdownable story of innocence lost, cruelty, delusion, and yes... guilt. It reminded me, from its opening chapters, of Never Let me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro and shares with it a contemplation on humanity. What other themes Chidgey may have intended I look forward to hearing about at her WORD Christchurch session.
More
Catherine Chidgey
- Titles by Catherine Chidgey
- The Axeman's Carnival by Catherine Chidgey (book review)
- Quick Questions with Catherine Chidgey - WORD Christchurch
WORD Christchurch
Make your own picks of the festival - check the programme online or pick up a printed copy from your library.
- WORD Christchurch website
- Follow WORD Christchurch on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok
- Our WORD Christchurch 2025 page - Find books by writers coming to this year's festival
*Both sides of my family are Catholic so I feel like I'm allowed to jump to that conclusion, however incorrect.
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