The characters in Sleep With Me by Joanna Briscoe are selfish, self-indulgent, snobby whining thirty-somethings who are hard to relate to and even harder to care about. But it's okay; they're supposed to be. This is a haunting, creepy, slow-moving novel that builds to a dramatic crescendo. It's subtly sinister- an uncomfortable read for no reason you can put your finger on.
Told from the alternating viewpoints of Lelia and Richard, a London couple who are perfectly happy together, the action begins at a Christmas party after they've just conceived their first child. Happy and glowing, they barely notice the presence of a new member of the group, Sylvie, who appears mousy and uninteresting. And yet slowly over the next few months she starts to make her presence felt...
Seducing Richard and leaving Lelia alone with thoughts of a past that haunts her, Sylvie becomes an addictive presence in the couple's life, but one that is never acknowledged between them. I can't say too much about the plot without revealing the story that a reader must allow to unfold for themselves, but this is a very compelling read.
The alternating viewpoints narrative works well, and as we reach the end of the book, allows certain plot points to be put together without our discovering them earlier. It also gives us a real insight into these people's heads- I think one of the reason the characters seem so unlikeable is that as narrators they're so emotionally honest, and tell us more than we need to know about themselves- often things we wouldn't wish to know about another person! Joanna Briscoe is a very talented and sharp author to be able to achieve this, and it shows a great understanding of human nature- its weaknesses and foibles (with an emphasis on human sexuality and how we deal with grief), which is really what this book is all about.
If that sounds like a super-serious read, it isn't- Sleep Wit Me isn't full of humour but it's not a hard book to work through; you'll want to race through it. A quote on the front describes it as "a great summer page turner..." Great it may be, but set in winter, with some very dark themes, there's nothing summery about it. I'd say it's a great winter read, if you don't mind feeling a little discomfited while you're reading- and for a few days afterwards...
I'm just not sure Briscoe intended for me to dislike her characters as much as I did- they're rather stuffy, cold and formal, although I had sympathy for them, especially Lelia, towards the end of the book.
The book feels a bit like a more modern Patricia Highsmith, where an undercurrent of menace is created out of very little, so it could be a creepy classic of the future!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Like this? Try The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.
