The Naked Light by Bridget Collins

I have adored Bridget Collins' past novels, The Betrayals, The Binding and The Silence Factory, and her latest is equally spellbinding. In The Naked Light, Collins takes us to a small English village during the period following the Great War, a time of extreme social upheaval; the number of men had been decimated, and many of those men left were both psychologically and physically damaged. To add to this suffering, the traditional destiny for young women of marriage and children could no longer be relied on; ‘It is a statistical fact. Only one in ten of the girls in this school will be able to get married….Nine out of ten of you will be alone. Will live alone. Will die alone.’

After her mother’s death, Florence has no choice other than to go to live with her widowed brother-in-law, the village vicar of Haltington. Kit, an artist, has most recently been painting the tin masks manufactured for men whose faces have been disfigured in battle and is trying to recover her creativity within the solitude and solace of a small, quiet village. Phoebe, Florence’s niece, is secretive, precocious and has a strange gift. And then, carved into the hillside is the Face, the protector against any malignant spirits which may threaten the village.

Collins has a breathtaking ability to combine the ordinary with the extraordinary, to sprinkle a little magic within the normal lives of normal folk. On one hand the narrative depicts the meeting and slow development of a relationship of the two women, Kit and Florence, while also exploring the situation for women during this period. Phoebe, still a child, is curious about their ‘friendship’; she hides, listens, observes, and makes mischief. This compelling love story with its historical essence is already captivating, but Collins goes further by imbuing this with an all-pervading supernatural element.

The Naked Light is a moving depiction of a love story during the anguish and devastation of the years following the First World War. It is also a chilling and convincing story of folklore. This is a novel which will keep you reading well into the night.

Reviewer: Paddy Richardson

HarperCollins