The Furies is Katie Lowe’s debut novel. A perfect read for October, the story is raw, dark and spooky at times. This was actually one of the highly anticipated reads for the month of October on NetGalley and that is how I came across it. I don’t usually read spooky stories but once in a while, it is nice to switch it up. As I have learned from my previous book thoughts, a book has much more to offer than its general categorization. This book did not disappoint. Let’s start off with the synopsis first!
In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead on her boarding school’s property, dressed in white and posed on a swing, with no known cause of death. What happened to her? And what do her friends know? To find out, it is necessary to go back to the beginning.
The school is Elm Hollow Academy, an all-girl’s boarding school located in a sleepy coastal town, with a long-buried grim history of 17th century witch trials. A new student, Violet, joins the school, and soon finds herself invited to become the fourth member of an advanced study group, led by the alluring and mysterious art teacher Annabel.
Annabel does her best to convince the girls that her classes aren’t related to ancient rites and rituals, and that they are just mythology. But the more she tries to warn the girls off the topic, the more the girls start to believe that magic is real and that they have the power to harness it.
Violet quickly finds herself wrapped up in this addictive new world. But when she comes to learn about the disappearance of a former member of the society, one with whom Violet shares an uncanny resemblance, she begins to wonder who she can trust, all the while becoming more deeply entangled in her newfound friendships.
Was it suicide, or a foul play more sinister? How far will these young girls go to protect one another…or to destroy one another?
The Short Take – From Goodreads
A story about toxic friendships, girl friend circles, beliefs in mystical powers, growing up and finding balance again: Violet has been through a horrific accident and she is still recovering. She is offered a place at the all-girl’s school, Elm Hollow Academy, and thus begins this novel of her finding her clique, the school drama, the magic and the thought-provoking literature the girls read under Annabel and nights loosing oneself.
Before Violet, Robin, Alex and Grace used to have another friend, Emily, who unfortunately went missing couple months back. In her attempt to get to know the girls better, Violet doesn’t ask about Emily but knows that she is one of the things that makes her an outsider in this group. In Robin, she finds the thrill of adventure and mischief, a person to worship, passionately love and hate at the same time. The Furies are the ancient goddesses that the girls learn about through Annabel, and the story says true to depict the wrath that is unleashed when injustice happens.
Katie’s writing is phenomenal – the research that went into writing this work is presented in an engaging manner. Through the girls’ teacher, Annabel, Katies offers interesting perspectives on magic, women’s place in society, and much more. The prose is dark, bitter at times, as Violet comes to accept her reality and role in the things that happen. At the same time, since she is narrating from the future, she is able to provide some retrospective perspectives to the events as well: the teenage mind’s narrative, sprinkled with the wise older woman’s experiences.
The Long Take – Themes for Thought
As much as I avoid reading Young Adult stories, they have a tendency to be more relatable at times than other literary fiction. This is because I have lived through teenage and have experienced similar things. Though I never went to an all-girls institution, I was part of all-girls friend circles and they can indeed be as vicious as Katie describes.
On girls, social warfare and toxic friendships
One of the things I learned during my teacher training was how different girls and boys are in their expression of anger. While boys fight out a dispute, girls are likely to hold grudges and very much capable of formulating a plan that hurts the other personally socially. In The Furies, Violet sees this side with the extent to which Robin holds something against other people and the things she is willing to try to make them pay. Rumors, gossip, being the epitome of devil may care attitude, Robin captures Violet’s heart with her fierceness.
Did you have a friend, growing up, who was possessive about you? One you spent time with doing things you weren’t supposed to? Whose adventures always filled you with terror, but you could not say ‘no’? I had a friend like that.
I met her in Grade 5 when she moved in a house near mine. We were never in the same class at school but we grew up together and were close until I changed schools in Grade 11. She was a free-spirit that I could never be and, thinking back now, I admired her for it. She had a dangerous streak, hung out with boys, there was even a random guy who stalked her, and she was ok with it. I got into trouble more than once because of her, and yet, I continued to hang out with her. Violet and Robin’s friendship reminded me of this old friendship of mine.
On teachings
Annabel is a teachers with a mission. She does not believe in the superstitious tales that form the history of Elm Hollow Academy but she does believe in giving the best of her students, the best of education. Set in 1998, a world where women have rights but men still continue to bring them down, Annabel uses all creative art forms created by women, whether it is books or paintings, to get the girls thinking about the world and how they have to be as string as these women.
This was actually a very fascinating aspect of the book for me. Annabel talked about society, women, magic and so much more, while encouraging the girls to write on the topics and do extra readings. I admired her as a teacher and though I did not see any of the essays that Violet and the others submitted to her, I know they were exercising critical thinking skills. This is partly what led them on the path to call upon the Furies in the first place.
On the Furies
The Furies originated in Greece. I did a little bit of research on them, with Ancient-origins.net offering some detailed perspectives.
The Furies of Greek mythology are monstrous women who lived in the underworld and avenged murders, particularly matricides. In Greek they are called Erinyes, a name thought to have come from the Arcadian word meaning, “to be angry,” hence the English name “Furies.”
Ancient-origins.net
The creatures first appear in Homer’s Iliad as punishers of oath-breakers and as embodied curses of parents wronged by their children. Their function would eventually narrow to be primarily avengers of the angry dead, but in Homer they are more generally enforcers of the proper order of things.
The girls turn to the Furies in a similar manner as Homer did in Iliad – as avengers for wrongs that have been commit, more specifically, wrongs committed to the girls by men. This is what brings in the spooky elements of the book since there are rituals to call upon the Furies, Violet witnessing certain things that she is unsure could have happened at all.
Overall, I truly enjoyed this novel. With an underlying murder mystery, this was a perfect October spooky read, with a splash of girl-problems. I am thankful to the publisher and author for making the book available to me on NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.
** The Furies is now out in stores so get a copy and let me know what you think! Let’s have a book-discussion! **
Amazon Print: Hardcover Paperback
Amazon Kindle
Cover image: Photo by David McCumskay on Unsplash
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