Disturbance by Jenna Clake
A woman escaping an abusive relationship finds herself caught between reality and the supernatural in this atmospheric debut from Jenna Clake
Set in a small town during a sweltering summer, Disturbance begins with its unnamed protagonist having freed herself from an abusive relationship. She has purposely chosen somewhere unremarkable to start again, away from the possibilities of running into either her ex or any mutual friends they shared, and her remote-working job with unsociable hours offers her the isolation she craves. But something is amiss in the dingy flat she has moved to. Cupboard doors open and close, lights flicker, kitchen appliances click and whine. She begins to wonder if the ex she has tried to be rid of might have somehow followed her there after all.
When she sees her teenage neighbour enacting a ritual to banish an ex-boyfriend, recalling her own past relationship, she decides to dabble in the occult herself. Too late, she realises that the line between the horrors of reality and the supernatural are thinner than she thought, and her wander into witchy territory starts to have consequences she had not predicted.
Jenna Clake’s atmospheric debut novel captivates, dealing with the nuances of healing from past trauma utterly believably and never feeling over-done. Her writing is lyrical and intelligent as well as darkly comic, and her characters are utterly convincing, from teenage girls creating love spells to the awkward small talk between neighbours in a new-build apartment block with very thin walls.