Review: A new talent to watch out for.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 4, 2013
The Inheritance is the debut novel by Elaine Jeremiah. I ought to say that I know Elaine through her writing and Twitter and have seen the novel in draft form. I'm delighted to see it published.The Inheritance is an engrossing tale of family tensions, sibling rivalry and the fragile nature of people's hopes and dreams. The story concerns the experiences of Kate and Emma, two very different people who happen to be sisters. The author captures well the threads which bind them together, threads which they both want to cut but are unable to.The characterisation of the two sisters is very effective and done with a light touch. We are given sharp insights into their minds and views. It is a tribute to the author that I found myself veering in sympathy for first one sister and then the other. I could see both their points of view, and be equally supportive and exasperated by them.I was less sure about the sub-plot concerning Kate's boy-friend. It was entertaining but not as much as the central plot concerning the two sisters and their inheritance.Elaine Jeremiah's style is fluent and assured. The story is fast-paced and an easy, enjoyable read. She handles the time-span and different locations with an assurance you rarely find in first novels. I was particularly impressed by the way in which Emma's difficulties unfolded in such a relentless yet plausible manner. Yet, although I thought she deserved everything that happened to her I was sympathetic to her plight. Who wouldn't be when she had such awful friends?I have read many first novels over the years. The Inheritance shows Elaine Jeremiah has a great deal of talent and I look forward to reading more of her work.