Book 74: Harbour (Människohamn).
Author: John Ajvide Lindqvist, 2008. Translated from the Swedish by Marlaine Delargy, 2010.
Genre: Horror. Drama. Ghosts.
Other Details: Paperback. 650 pages.
It was a beautiful winter's day. Anders, his wife and their feisty six-year-old, Maja, set out across the ice of the Swedish archipelago to visit the lighthouse on Gavasten. There was no one around, so they let her go on ahead. And she disappeared, seemingly into thin air, and was never found. Two years later, Anders is a broken alcoholic, his life ruined. He returns to the archipelago, the home of his childhood and his family. But all he finds are Maja's toys and through the haze of memory, loss and alcohol, he realizes that someone - or something - is trying to communicate with him. Soon enough, his return sets in motion a series of horrifying events which exposes a mysterious and troubling relationship between the inhabitants of the remote island and the sea. - synopsis from Quercus website.
Harbour is Lindqvist's third novel to be translated into English and the first of his novels that I have read. One of the members of our library reading group was speaking enthusiastically about it and I was intrigued by the premise. I love horror stories that reference the power and mysteries of the sea and this is possibly why Lovecraft is such a firm favourite of mine. While there is no direct homage here to Lovecraft, the setting does evoke a similar atmosphere to his and Clark Ashton Smith's stories.
Lindqvist does a superb job with his setting and characterisation. Aside from the central mystery and horror elements, the novel explores the devastation caused to a family by the disappearance of a child as well as the tensions found in the local community between the native islanders and the city folk, who have holiday cottages there.
Anders straddles both worlds as he had married Cecilia, a girl from Stockholm who had spent her summer holidays on the island when they were teenagers. Simon, the long time partner of Anders grandmother, had a career as a stage magician yet also has an appreciation for the real magic that can be found in the world. Despite his many years on the island and relationship with Anna-Greta, he is still considered an outsider though it puts him in the position of being able to uncover the secrets of the island. He aids Anders in his search for answers while also seeking to protect him.
I found it an intelligent, complex and engaging horror novel. The pace of the novel is fairly slow as the atmosphere is built up in a measured way though it also does deliver some quite disturbing scenes. I made the mistake of reading it late at night and then felt a right numpty when I was jumping at shadows and every noise. Given the themes, maybe not one to take to the seaside!
