Sundial

Catriona Ward

Sundial
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Profile Books Ltd
Country
United Kingdom
Published
6 October 2022
Pages
352
ISBN
9781788166218

Sundial

Catriona Ward

Rob is afraid of her daughter.

Callie collects tiny bones and whispers to imaginary friends, and Rob is afraid of what she might to do Annie, her younger sister. She sees a darkness in Callie that reminds her of the family she left behind, and a life she has tried to forget.

Seeing no other way to keep Annie safe, she nevertheless decides to take Callie back to Sundial, her childhood home deep in the Mojave Desert. And there she will have to make a terrible choice.

Callie is afraid of her mother.

Rob has begun to look at her strangely. To tell her secrets about her past that both disturb and excite her.

And they are afraid that only one of them will make it back from Sundial alive.

A gripping gothic masterpiece from the bestselling and award-winning author of The Last House on Needless Street, Sundial is a must-read for fans of Girl A and Sharp Objects.

Review

Catriona Ward’s latest psychological horror, Sundial, is a harrowing, grisly tale of the bonds between mother and daughter, and how the buried secrets of the past are reflected in our children. The book employs dual perspectives; on one side we meet mother-of-two Rob, who worries about her eldest daughter Callie’s penchant for playing with animal bones and whispering to imaginary friends. When Callie’s fascination with death threatens her younger sister’s safety, Rob takes Callie to her childhood home, to Sundial, where she hopes to exorcise the demons she believes are lingering in her daughter’s heart. But through Callie’s eyes, we see that Rob isn’t entirely above suspicion herself; she looks at Callie with a strangeness in her eyes, a trembling violence in her hands, and speaks of family secrets that haunt and corrupt Sundial. Both narrators fear that only one of them will come out of this alive.

Sundial brings forth from the shadows questions that could gnaw away at a parent: is my child a good person? Will my child reflect the darkness in me? I may love my child, but do I like them? Ward questions if there are limits to maternal love, or if a child is always worth loving and protecting no matter what monstrous deeds they commit. Be warned, Ward does not shy away from visceral descriptions of animal cruelty, particularly towards dogs, and reading this book feels like watching a car accident: your heart is gripped by another’s tragedy, and although you shouldn’t watch, you can’t help but be filled with the morbid curiosity to learn more.

After the success of Ward’s previous horror-thriller, The Last House on Needless Street, readers should expect to be unsettled. This is a truly perverse, gory tale filled with deeply disturbing twists that test family loyalties and blur the lines of morality, causing us to ask ourselves how much can we allow love to justify cruelty?


Aurelia Orr is a bookseller at Readings Kids.

This item is in-stock at 7 shops and will ship in 3-4 days

Our stock data is updated periodically, and availability may change throughout the day for in-demand items. Please call the relevant shop for the most current stock information. Prices are subject to change without notice.

Sign in or become a Readings Member to add this title to a wishlist.