The Doll Funeral

Kate Hamer From its opening lines, “My name is Ruby. I live with Barbara and Mick. They’re not my parents...” bestselling author Kate Hamer’s novel is disturbing and compulsive. We quickly learn teenage Ruby is physically abused by her repulsive stepfather but must pretend the bruises on her arms and black eyes are a result of clumsiness. Delighted to discover they are not her blood relatives, she vows to hunt for her real parents and from this point unfolds a curious and chilling tale of voodoo doll rituals, secrets, lies and surreal events. Kate Hamer’s previous book The Girl In The Red Coat was a huge hit and The Doll Funeral looks likely to follow suit. With poetic, but crisp prose, she explores what it means to belong and how the past is far more entwined with the present than most of us imagine. 8/10