SICK by Christa Wojciechowski @ChristaWojo

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
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How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: Novella, (very) dark psychological drama

This is a short novella that I read in just two hours, and possibly the most peculiar book I've ever read.  John Branch is an impoverished aristocrat who lives in squalor with his wife, a podiatric nurse called Susan; the book is written from Susan's first person point of view.  Throughout their marriage he has suffered one illness after another, and terrible accidents; many of his maladies baffle the doctors.  Suzie lives on frazzled nerves and chocolate bars, but they love each other, and exist in their own little world of their house and his illnesses.  Their relationship is odd in the extreme, with their baby talk, and the way she refers to him, and he acts, as if he is a child.  She is a plain woman who had little in her life before they met; he is everything to her.

At first I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it; I wondered if English was the author's first language as Susan talks about singing John his favourite 'lullaby' when he is ill, and describes him as having 'pretty lips'; there are several other odd word choices, and I couldn't work out if they were part of the peculiarity of the couple, or if they were just ill-chosen.  Also, a hyphen is used instead of an em dash throughout, which is confusing when the hyphen is used for two different purposes in the same sentence.  Thirdly, the book is graphic in its descriptions of blood, puss and worse; I can do gory violence, but not bodily functions/secretions.  But at the same time it's very well-written; it's dark, vivid and horribly depressing.  As it went on, I thought, yes, I do want to read it, but perhaps it'll be one of those '3*, good but not my cup of tea' books.

Then I got to appreciating it more and more, and I understood how clever it is.

It becomes clear that all is not what it seems in the dingy servants' house where they live, on the estate that once belonged to John's family, but Suzie is too tired, undernourished and concerned for John to investigate the irregularities.  When the truth about John's illnesses comes out, the whole story is turned on its head.  

So I ended up giving it 4* because I liked it ~ I would recommend it to anyone who is not squeamish and likes something a bit out of the ordinary.  And I think I might pick up the sequel at some point, too; I am most intrigued to see what happens next!