My Rating
Book Review
This is one story that I have been waiting to read for a very long time. A theatre, a murdered actress, ghost hauntings, and a dual timeline story with romance, it had every other plotline that had always fascinated me. After reading the story, I can assuredly say that this was way beyond my expectation.
First off the gothicky elements of the story both in the past with an old church used as the youth club theatre and then in the present with Dean Wilson theatre have been captured so wonderfully by the author that the atmosphere just vibrates with a sense of otherworldliness. The descriptions of the rundown theatre or the church with its broken windows and turrets were exceptional in creating that perfect haunted ambiance without overly using any of the age old ghostly terror elements.
Now I might have started with the primary element of the story, the setting but it is definitely not the most alluring factor of this tale of greed, ambition, loss, betrayal, love, and yearning, it is the spectacular writing by Louise Beech. I Am Dust had this subtle undertone of sadness that makes you feel devastated. The narrative that is explored thru Chole, her need to be loved, her desire to be seen as more than an usher, her earnestness in achieving something thru her writing, her traumatic nightmares and the self harming, and then the climax with its myriad twists and turns had the tears flowing unknowingly.
Louise Beech’s writing induces a tangible sense of loss, of innocence, and of childhood as Chole, Jess, and Ray dabble with an Ouija board and with things they have no proper understanding of and bites more than they can chew. In 2019, Jess comes back to the theatre to play the central character in Dust and sets off a collision leading to an utterly surprising and unexpected climax. Thank God for Chester and his lightheartedness, his warm friendship with Chole made for a lovely reading. Honestly, the murder mystery of Morgan Miller failed to engage my interest much, even though the revelation of the murderer was surprising. Somehow Chole and her unrequited love became more important rather the mystery.
Enthralled.
Book Blurb
When iconic musical Dust is revived twenty years after the leading actress was murdered in her dressing room, a series of eerie events haunts the new cast, in a bewitching, beguiling and terrifyingly dark psychological thriller…
The Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer…
Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years. But who will be brave enough to take on the role of ghostly goddess Esme Black, last played by Morgan Miller, who was murdered in her dressing room?
Theatre usher Chloe Dee is caught up in the spectacle. As the new actors arrive, including an unexpected face from her past, everything changes. Are the eerie sounds and sightings backstage real or just her imagination? Is someone playing games?
Is the role of Esme Black cursed? Could witchcraft be at the heart of the tragedy? And are dark deeds from Chloe’s past about to catch up with her?
Not all the drama takes place onstage. Sometimes murder, magic, obsession and the biggest of betrayals are real life. When you’re in the theatre shadows, you see everything.
And Chloe has been watching…
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