Author’s second novel amps up the suspense

Hysteria

Elisabeth de Mariaffi HarperCollins Canada

A controlling, vaguely sinister husband, a secluded summer house and a murky past marked by traumatic loss set the stage for psychological suspense in Newfoundlander Elisabeth de Mariaffi’s second novel.

In the mid-1950s, German refugee Heike Lerner appears to have a cushy domestic life as stay-at-home mom to a young son and wife to a well-to-do psychiatrist.

But it’s built on a shaky foundation that starts to crumble when she stumbles upon an abandoned cottage and encounters a mysterious child near that summer home on New York state’s Finger Lakes.

And when her son disappears, the entire facade comes crashing down as Heike’s search leads to a shocking revelation, along with a few too-pat coincidences.

An established poet and shortstory writer (her first story collection, How to Get Along with Women, was on the 2013 Giller Prize long list), de Mariaffi saw her debut novel, murder mystery The Devil You Know, earn a spot on the National Post’s 99 Best Books of 2015.

In Hysteria, she crafts a multifaceted tale with present-day parallels to a favourite childhood fairy tale and events in Heike’s past.

At times, the novel is too finely crafted for its own good, sacrificing character development and action in favour of creative writing.

But you’ve gotta hand it to de Mariaffi: While she includes plenty of foreshadowing in Hysteria — such as Heike’s husband’s remark at a dinner party that he feels he should try out the drugs he’s using in his research — de Mariaffi delivers a truly surprising twist at the finish.