The Flight of Cornelia Blackwood ★★★★

Susan Elliot Wright, Simon & Schuster, R305

Cornelia walks with a limp, smokes like a chimney and is wary of crows. Childless, friendless and despised by all who know her. Through flashbacks we see that she once had a doting husband, a healthy sex life, a baby on the way and good relationships with her neighbours and colleagues. What happened between then and now that caused her to be so terribly alone? Just when she thinks her life will be barren forever, Cornelia meets a single mom and her young son. She welcomes them into her home and dotes on the little boy, but all is not as it seems. Wright is a skilled storyteller; she knows when and how much to reveal to keep the reader on tenterhooks. A tragic story of loss, motherhood and madness.