Putney Review

Title: Putney
Author: Sofka Zinovieff
Series: Not Applicable
Publisher: Harper
Publication Date: 21 August 2018
Source: Harper
Format: Paperback (ARC)
Pages: 384
Reading Timeline: 08 August 2018

Goodreads Synopsis:

A rising star in the London arts scene of the early 1970s, gifted composer Ralph Boyd is approached by renowned novelist Edmund Greenslay to score a stage adaptation of his most famous work. Welcomed into Greenslay’s sprawling bohemian house in Putney, an artistic and prosperous district in southwest London, the musical wunderkind is introduced to Edmund’s beautiful activist wife Ellie, his aloof son Theo, and his young daughter Daphne, who quickly becomes Ralph’s muse.

Ralph showers Daphne with tokens of his affection—clandestine gifts and secret notes. In a home that is exciting but often lonely, Daphne finds Ralph to be a dazzling companion for many years. When Ralph accompanies Daphne alone to meet her parents in Greece, their relationship intensifies irrevocably. One person knows the truth about their relationship: Daphne’s best friend Jane, whose awe of the intoxicating Greenslay family ensures her silence.

Decades later Daphne is back in London. After years lost to decadence and drug abuse, she is struggling to create a normal, stable life for herself and her adolescent daughter. When circumstances bring her back in touch with her long-lost friend, Jane, their reunion inevitably turns to Ralph, now a world-famous musician also living in the city. Daphne’s recollections of her youth and her growing anxiety over her own young daughter eventually lead to an explosive realization that propels her to confront Ralph and their years spent together.

Masterfully told from three diverse viewpoints—victim, perpetrator, and witness—Putney is a subtle and enormously powerful novel about consent, agency, and what we tell ourselves to justify what we do, and what others do to us

Book Review:

Pre-Reading Thoughts:

I think that this book is super important and relevant right now. I've heard nothing but incredible things about this book, so I can't wait to jump in as soon as I can.

Thank you so much to Harper Books for providing me with a copy of this book. Just a small disclaimer for those reading this review. I have received this book for free. Please note that this does not affect my opinion in any way. All thoughts are my own.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this book made me uncomfortable. Not because it was terrible but because of the startling reality that this can happen to anyone. It freaked me out beyond belief and it had my moral compass going haywire. This book is beautifully written, creating this haunting effect that truly helps to shape this story. The plot, which I didn't read much of, was slow paced and utterly shocking. Just thinking about it now has me closed to tears and so angry. This book is super important and not for the light-hearted because it is such a heavy book with such a relevant story to tell. Zinovieff has done an outstanding job, leaving the reader feeling disgusted and shocked. I wish I could have read more about the book but it made me super uncomfortable. Please go into this book cautiously.  Thank you so much to Harper Books for providing me with a copy of this book.

Yours in Reading,

Melleny