This is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau

 

This Is Where We Talk Things Out

This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau, author of Palimpsest: A Collection of Contemporary Horror, follows the gut-wrenching journey of Miller and her estranged mother, Sylvie, who have always had a tense relationship.

After Miller's father dies, she agrees to a girls' vacation away from the city to reconnect with the only family she has left. Although she's eager to make things work. Miller can't help but worry that her mother is seeing their countryside retreat as a fun weekend getaway instead of what it really is: a last ditch effort to repair their relationship.

Unfortunately, that quickly becomes the least of Miller's problems.

Sylvie's trapped in the past and if Miller's not careful. she will be too. A cross between Stephen King's Misery and Stephanie Wrobel's Darling Rose Gold. This Is Where We Talk Things Out explores the horror of familial trauma, mother-daughter relationships, and what happens when we don't let go.

This was one of those book where I stayed up until 2am reading because I couldn't put it down! 

The story starts with Miller and Florence who are getting married in two months. Miller is feeling rather self conscious that she has no family to invite and so when her estranged mother Sylvie invites her on a weekend away she says yes much to Florence's alarm. 

I really felt Miller's vulnerability, you quickly get the sense she has been mistreated by her mother but at the same time she still dreams of the mother-daughter relationship she's always dreamed of. 

As soon as she meets her mother in the parking lot there is a storm brewing which I thought was a prefect use of foreboding. At first through Caitlin Marceau's uncanny knack for amazing dialogue I was left wondering maybe the mother was actually ok and the issues were all in Miller's head.

After a couple hours of driving Sylvie takes her daughter to a remote cabin, the weather is getting worse and Miller fears that they'll be snowed in for weeks. However Sylvie refuses to postpone her weekend and so Miller is stuck with her mother in a region so remote there is no phone reception.

The pace of this novella is fantastic. It's fast paced building up to an almighty ending that ripped my heart out!