I always struggle slightly with books by Bridget Collins. Whilst I essentially enjoy them, particularly the writing, the storylines are always mixed with gothic folklore. I’m not adverse to this genre but in this instance I felt that it didn’t add much to the storyline. The characters of Kit, Florence and Phoebe were fascinating and like some other reviewers I wanted to find out how their lives panned out.

Bridget Collins books are always well-written and a wide array of topics with a supernatural element. In "The Naked Light" we see how World War 1 decimated village life and there's no-one left at Bone Cottage to tend to the Face, the ancient chalk figure carved in the local hillside. It starts off as a simple story that hints at the supernatural and this really ramps up towards the end. I'm definitely going to go back and read this again as I was so caught up in it that I raced through and all of a sudden it was finished!

An atmospheric and thoughtful historical novel exploring forbidden passion and friendship. The supernatural folklore elements twisted and turned throughout, enhancing the story but not domineering. Was left wanting to know what happened to the main characters, especially the troubled adolescent Phoebe. I feel this novel needs to be given time initially, I found it a slow build up until about 30%, and then was invested in the characters and storyline. A great read for a dark winter evening.

Once again, Bridget Collins has produced a historical fantasy/supernatural novel that is original and compelling. It is a deeply atmospheric, creepy book, similar in tone to her most recent previous novel ('The Silence Factory'), and it reminded me of the books of Laura Purcell or some of Sarah Waters books. The title refers to a line in a poem quoted at the start, about the 'naked light of peace' - a poem suggesting that peacetime can be as stark and difficult as war, in a different way. It's an appropriate title, as the shadow of WWI hangs over the story throughout, a conflict that may be over but continues to blight the lives of those living in its aftermath.

The story is mainly set in a Sussex village in 1920/21. Many of the young (and not so young) men have been lost in the war, those that returned are horribly injured physically and mentally. Women whom society had offered only marriage and children as their aspiration, find themselves with no prospect of either. A newcomer to the village is Kit, an artist who spent the war making masks to replace the lost faces of disfigured soldiers. Traumatised by her experiences, Kit can no longer paint and has come to the village seeking solitude. But she soon befriends Florence, the vicar's lonely sister in law - one of the many 'surplus women'. Also keen to make her acquaintance is Phoebe, Florence's strange, spiteful teenage niece. As Kit and Florence's relationship develops into something more romantic, increasingly odd and disturbing things are happening in the village. Once watched over by a crude face carved into the chalk hills, it is now unprotected from the 'hungry spirits' particularly common to the area - or so the local folklore says. With face overgrown since all who once tended it have died, sensitive Phoebe in particular is certain that they are all in danger.

It's not necessarily a nice book to read - it's too dark and foreboding for that. It's certainly an effectively written book though. The sense of danger and 'wrongness' increases throughout - Collins is very good at implying something 'off' in the atmosphere, as she demonstrated in 'The Silence Factory'. The characters aren't instantly likeable, although they did grow on me slowly. The second half is better than the first, as the supernatural peril ramps up and things become more compelling. It was hard to put down towards the end.

If I gave a star rating purely on the cleverness of the writing it would be five stars, but I factor in reading enjoyment and for that I put it down to a four, as it's difficult to really love a book that has such a weight of sorrow underpinning it. However I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys ghost stories and 'chilling' psychological books - it's an extremely well written example.

A wonderful, insightful look at the impact of the Great War on the cruelly damaged men who came home and the women who were left with little or no hope of a marriage and children following the huge death toll. The supernatural element was almost a distraction and hardly needed as the gradual unfolding of the womens' lives took centre stage. It's a shame that the book skimmed over the final years as there was so much left unexplored with regard to Florence and Phoebe, I could have carried on reading for so much longer.

I have read other books by Bridget Collins. I loved The Binding and was less enthusiastic about The Betrayals. I felt that my enjoyment of this book fell in between the two. It felt that it took a long time to establish the story settings. I was wishing that it would get going!
Similar to the other books that I have read, it focuses on the fear of discovery in her gay characters. The fear is obviously real and illustrates the desperation in earlier times. There is a noticeable contrast between the characters, one determined to be herself and the other dreadfully fearful of discovery.
Recommended

A mix of love story and folk horror- another fabulous book from Bridget Collins.

This was a compelling story showing the starkness of life after the First World War for the surviving men who would never recover and for the generation of women who also lost the future they had been brought up to expect-marriage, children, duty. Florence and Kit both find themselves living aimlessly in a lonely valley where dark forces are awakening. They ultimately find a path through the desert of post war life in the village but are both regarded as strangers and oddities in the confined environment they are restrained within.

The tension and distrust between the characters we get to know kept me on edge as I read. These ‘incomers’ to the village simply don’t understand how much has been lost with the death of the final member of the Bone family. They do notice the strange events but are quick to credit these to imagination or accidents.

Phoebe, the vicar’s daughter, was fascinating- an awkward, angry adolescent searching for her path in life and leaving a trail of disquiet in her wake. Her story arc was strongly signposted but satisfying.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. 5* from me

‘The Naked Light’ combines Bridget Collins’ love of the otherworldly with a very clear depiction of the lives of women living side by side the spectre of death in the years after the First World War.

Kit moves to Bone Cottage on the South Downs in an attempt to escape the trauma of her work, making masks for horribly mutilated young men preparing to re-enter a civilian world which can hardly bear to look at them. This ‘fix’ is the precursor to the plastic surgery developments portrayed superbly by Louisa Young in ‘My Dear, I wanted you tell you’ if readers are interested in learning more about this work.

Trained as an artist, Kit is looked on with suspicion by the villagers. She is extraordinarily self-sufficient, mannish in dress and brusque in manners. Her cottage, previously owned by a ‘witch’ whose family’s responsibility it was to keep a currently hidden chalk Face intact on the nearby down, is associated with the uncanny. Untended, the Face cannot protect the vulnerable from wrathful spirits. All Kit knows is that it is a cold, lonely place but a refuge from those too emotionally demanding, namely ex-lover Portia and would-be suitor, Muckle.

Meanwhile, along the road, Florence is living an equally spartan life at the vicarage. Quasi maternal figure for her recalcitrant motherless niece, Phoebe, they appear to pity and loathe each other in equal measures. Florence is one of the millions of single women who has little hope of a traditional life of marriage and motherhood, once expected for all in her position. However, when she meets Kit, she begins to understand what will truly allow her to be happy.

Collins’ portrayal of female courage, anger and despair is plausible in all its forms throughout the narrative. However, it is frustrating to read, near the end of the novel, that there is an interlude of four years during which a number of life-changing events take place. To my mind, the novel would have worked even better with a little less focus on the supernatural, replaced by further exploration of the day-to-day lives of Phoebe and Florence. Such a well portrayed picture of a damaged teenage girl and so very annoying that we do not get to follow her development into adulthood. Likewise, given what Florence sacrifices, how does she actually learn to accommodate her situation? Such interesting characters; such missed opportunity!

However, that said, this is a thought-provoking novel which captures splendidly the communal and individual devastation of those living in the long shadow of the First World War.

My thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollinsUK, Harper Fiction for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

Oh my this is just lovely reading. It is atmospheric and beautifully composed. The characters well drawn and their complexity is teased out over the story.

The Naked Light by Bridget Collins

I love books by this author and think this could be her best thus far . Wow what a read , it truly has a gothic horror feel about it , a slow creeping dread fills the book , and I loved it !

Watching over the village of Haltington is an ancient carving in the ground, known to locals simply as the Face. It was first etched into the chalk when lives were ruled by superstition and stories; by fear of the unknown, of the shadows.

For centuries, the inhabitants of Bone Cottage have tended to it. But now that the Great War has decimated the population of even this most isolated of places, the Face stands neglected and overgrown.
Village newcomer Kit arrived and ruffles a few feathers . She forms a sort of friendship with Florence but strange things,begin to happen .