A young father and son set out on a road trip, devastated by the death of the wife and mother they both loved. United in grief, the pair travel to her ancestral home, where they must confront the terrifying legacy she has bequeathed: a family called the Order that commits unspeakable acts in search of immortality.
For Gaspar, the son, this maniacal cult is his destiny. As the Order tries to pull him into their evil, he and his father take flight, attempting to outrun a powerful clan that will do anything to ensure its own survival. But how far will Gaspar’s father go to protect his child? And can anyone escape their fate?
Moving back and forth in time, from London in the swinging 1960s to the brutal years of Argentina’s military dictatorship and its turbulent aftermath, Our Share of Night is a novel like no other: a family story, a ghost story, a story of the occult and the supernatural, a book about the complexities of love and longing with queer subplots and themes. This is the masterwork of one of Latin America’s most original novelists, “a mesmerizing writer,” says Dave Eggers, “who demands to be read.”
My thoughts:
I felt sorry for Gaspar. His mother dies when he is very young. His father, while trying to protect him, is also abusive at times. The Order and his grandmother want to use him to try and obtain immortality of consciousness.
The pace of the book is uneven. It is very slow in parts which gives it a dreamlike or should I say nightmarish quality.
The book jumps around with different sections focusing on different characters. I liked the parts that focused on Gaspar the best. I was puzzled about the inclusion of a section from a journalist's point of view. The only reason I can think of for it is to point out again the horrors of some of the time period the book is set in.
It is definitely a horrifying story. From the Darkness to the way that Mercedes treats and mistreats others as nothing but tools to serve her, it is an unsettling read.
The book does deserve trigger warnings for the body horror and the mentions of abuse of all kinds. The horrors of war and the AIDS epidemic could also be triggering for some people. But seriously, this is a horror book.
I was a little unsatisfied with the ending. I don't want to say more because of spoilers.
Overall, I give this book 4 stars. I liked Gaspar. And even in the slow parts I wanted to know what would happen next and ultimately how things would turn out. If you enjoy your horror with a historical setting mostly in the 80s, in particular Argentina, then this might be a good book for you.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not influence my opinions.
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