REVIEW: PRECIOUS THING, BY COLETTE MCBETH

 

From the beginning of our story, we read the perspective of Rachel Walsh, journalist, who is narrating the tale in the form of a letter to “you,” a best friend named Clara O’Connor.

The year is 2007, and Clara had arranged to meet with Rachel in Brighton, at a club, to reconnect.

But things go awry and Clara goes missing. As more pieces to the puzzle form, we see Rachel’s boyfriend on the CCTV cameras with Clara, leaving that same club just minutes after Rachel has left.

What is going on between these two supposed friends? Was there a miscommunication, or is something more happening? Was Clara abducted? Did she fake the whole thing? Or was Rachel herself behind the scenes manipulating everything?

The story then moves back and forth in time, and we learn more and more about the two friends, from the beginning in 1993. We see the disturbed relationships between Rachel and her mother Niamh, we learn of Clara’s motherless childhood, and we observe, from Rachel’s perspective, the close relationship between Clara and Rachel’s mother. We also see that the relationship between the two friends is somewhat pathological.

Wherever the truth lies, we begin to realize that there is a lot more to the story…More secrets and lies. Why did Rachel’s mother act as though she hated her? Why was she so close to Clara? And what do the two girls really feel for each other: rivalry or love, or something else entirely?

Precious Thing was a truly gripping story which I could not put down, and even in the end, it continued to surprise me. You may not be able to tell what is true and what is not, even after you turn the last page. 5 stars.