THE journey through the loneliness and darkness of grief –
and its many emotional stages – is one of life’s toughest trials but it’s also
one for which many human beings appear to be singularly unprepared.
It’s a concept that has been seized on and explored with insight,
sensitivity and some storytelling magic by lawyer and debut novelist Amelia
Ireland (pictured below) who wrote this moving, intriguing, surprising and utterly unique tale
about trauma, healing and recovery in memory of her mother who died shortly
after being diagnosed with early onset dementia.
Harnessing all those intense and harrowing feelings that litter the path to understanding and acceptance – anger, denial, depression, despair and guilt – The Seven O'Clock Club takes us into the troubled lives of four lost and broken strangers brought together in a London tower block to take part in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts. The result is an immersive, powerful and slow-reveal story... one with an extraordinary twist at its heart which will have readers gasping, crying, smiling and hurriedly turning the pages as the therapy sessions with an unconventional woman called Genevieve take us above, behind and far beyond the normal healing process.
Genevieve Dempsey, a determined woman with an unusual theory to
test, is about to launch a series of therapy sessions for four very different
people who all suffered a traumatic experience six months ago, have shown a
dogged inability to put it behind them, but have all accepted an invitation to
attend tonight's counselling session.
Their scepticism about this new kind of grief therapy – and their
unnervingly perceptive counsellor Genevieve – means they are all wary, but as
the weeks go by, they find themselves returning again and again, pulled back to
work their way toward healing, even if it means first facing the pain head-on.
Fifty-two-year-old Victoria is a sharp-tongued lawyer at a
cut-throat City law firm and has no intention of letting down her defensive wall
and admitting that she’s grieving. Her privileged upbringing is one she would
rather forget but it might be the one thing she needs to acknowledge in order
to move on.
Callum, aged 29, is a rock star who found success too young. Struggling to stay on the straight and narrow, and forced to keep out of the public eye by his record label, he is one drink away from losing it all and rages against the world so he can forget a day that haunts him. Mischa, aged just 20, is a fragile and impressionable young woman from an east London council estate who left school to be a full-time carer to her ailing mother. Plagued by loneliness and blackouts she can’t control, all she wants is something or someone to live for, and a place to belong.
And then there’s 32-year-old Freya, an interior designer and a kind, sensitive wife who had a picture-perfect home, marriage and career but can now barely bring herself to leave the house because of panic attacks, or admit that the life she had isn’t necessarily the one she wants back. But there is another reason these four people have been brought together. And when that perfectly ordinary tower block near Westminster turns out to be not quite so ordinary, all those involved in the group are forced to make some unexpected – and, for some, impossible – decisions.
Grief is one of the most powerful human emotions and the
grieving process can both aid and hamper mental recovery. Grieve for too long
and it can become a stumbling block, but embrace it, understand it and accept it,
and it can be the source of new-found strength and provide light at the end of
a long, dark and seemingly endless tunnel.
In this way, Ireland cannot help but capture the hearts and
minds of readers as she digs deep into the human psyche to explore grief and
its many facets. Packed with wisdom and empathy, The Seven O’Clock Club meticulously
follows the rollercoaster journeys of Victoria, Callum, Freya and Mischa... each
trapped in one or more of the various painful stages of grief, and each witnessing
their lives and secrets unfolding through a series of sometimes shocking
revelations.
Through Genevieve and her previously untested techniques, each of these flawed but very human characters is forced to step into the arena, face unpalatable truths, discover lost confidence and strength, and finally deal with the raw emotions and hidden fears that are holding back their recovery. Unsurprisingly, their reawakening engenders a whole range of reactions and behaviours from anger, sarcasm and outright hostility to unexpected affection, mutual understanding, flashes of dark humour and a warm connection.
Superbly plotted, written straight from the heart, packed
with drama, suspense and mystery, and featuring a soupçon of magic, messages of
hope, friendship and love, and that unforgettable, jaw-dropping twist, The
Seven O’Clock Club proves to be the cleverest, most thought-provoking, and
ultimately most uplifting read you’ll encounter this spring.
(Black & White Publishing, hardback, £16.99)
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