It’s really a game- for her, for him, for them and even for us, their readers. Rock on Paper getting cut by Scissors in a surreptitious love story where love is not at all what seems. The depth of that love is like the Scottish loch- bottomless, magical and hauntingly scenic.
The Scottish loch is the exact reason why Amelia and Adam Wright immediately get captivated by their weekend retreat.
Incidentally Amelia wins a raffle draw containing weekend retreat at the Blackwater chapel in Scottish Highlands. The chapel converted into a stylish b’n’b is named after the nearby Blackwater loch which is as mysterious and remote as the name suggests.
Amelia and Adam drive all the way from London to give a final shot to their crumbling marriage by spending a weekend away. But this eerie, isolated and decaying church makes them question their choice of accommodation for the weekend. There is so much subterfuge and mind game in deciding how to spend their weekend and even how to be a married couple takes significant portion of this story. We cannot help but notice the parallels between the dilapidated church and the decrepit state of their relationships as the author juxtaposes these realities just so.
Their anxiety, the state of their marriage, Adam’s neurological and psychological condition is so palpable in their exchanges and their few hours in this strange chapel that we can feel the undercurrent of something sinister lurking behind the cobwebs and shadows in the corner.
Besides, Amelia and Adam, there is a third perspective of this story which comes through the yearly-written-but-never-been-sent letters for their wedding anniversaries throughout the years. These letters help us to get a bigger picture of their bond and fill in empty spaces of understanding their current plight. But do they make sense of their predicament? Are these letters really peppered through the book as marriage milestones or these contain hidden meanings?
Well, I will highly recommend you to read this novel to unravel this mystery saga. Absolutely a banger read that will keep you guessing till the very end. Even though there are plot holes and obvious misalignments, still it offers a worthwhile reading experience.