Date: 23 October 2020
Location: Zoom
About a dozen Bookers joined the Zoom meeting to discuss Ruth Ware’s The Turn of the Key. This was the second of Ware’s books that the Bookers have read this year. The first was The Death of Mrs. Westaway which we read in February.
Only about six of us actually read the complete book, but those who did all enjoyed it. At least one member was uncomfortable with the building suspense and turned to the end to learn what happened.
Ware specializes in novels featuring a ‘damsel in distress’, and, in this book especially, Ware creates an ominous sense of dread that continues to grow as the imprisoned Rowan/Rachel tells her story in a letter to a solicitor.
Of course, the book has a lot of twists and turns, and we all agreed that Ware has a wonderful ability to keep you guessing. It is only at the very end of the novel that we learn what was really going on.
Some reviewers have referred to Ware as today’s Agatha Christie, and in fact Ware herself has commented on how influential Christie has been in her own writings. Whether Ware’s works will have the lasting impact of Christie’s remains to be seen, but one thing is certain — she can sure write a cracking-good mystery.
— Bob