On the isolated shores of Beanna Dubh, artist Grizela lives alone in her cottage, sleeping by day and painting by night. Her few friends are island’s other outsiders, including a clique of four teenage girls. When strange symbols begin appearing, Grizela fears her young companions may be in trouble.
The Summary
Grizela arrived on the Irish island of Beanna Dubh as a young woman more than forty years, eager to escape her past in Scotland. The religious and superstitious inhabitants of the island mostly shun Grizela, as they do all outsiders. This behavior is encouraged by Father Murphy, the island’s head priest, who leads his church and the town of Abbandine with fear of fire and brimstone.
The crows of Saint Abban are one of the island’s defining features, and they lead Grizela to the body of Father Williams. The young priest, a relatively new arrival to Beanna Dubh, appears to have drowned. However, he also bears a demonic symbol on his chest, which only Grizela sees before it is washed away by the rain.
A string of additional deaths, all appearing accidental, activate the islanders’ superstitious beliefs. The entire population is on high alert as more demonic symbols appear, each preceding another resident’s demise. Grizela begins to suspect the involvement of four young girlsโMaeve, Nessa, Una, and Enyaโwho regularly suffer abuse that is ignored by the adults in their community.
Events escalate, and Grizela starts to question not only the girls’ involvement but her own sanity as the lines between mythology and reality blur and Grizela’s own secrets make their way to the surface.
My Review
A Penance for Crows delivers on its promise of a gothic, atmospheric tale. The island of Beanna Dubh is a character of its own, with its long religious history, distinct landmarks, and ever-present crows.
Interestingly, the islanders also felt very real to me. Although there are few characters who present as individuals, the character of the community (or, at times, the mob) is a cornerstone of this novel. Morgan does an excellent job of portraying the people of Beanna Dubh in their complex mix of innocent superstition and potential for violence.
I was initially intrigued at the prospect of an older protagonist, but Grizela’s age doesn’t play much of a role in the story. Despite being in her sixties, she is spry enough to traverse the island’s terrain with relative ease. While she serves as a sort of mentor to some of the younger characters, this quality seems to be attributed more to her status as an outsider than learned experience. She could’ve been any age and the story wouldn’t really change.
As far as the plot goes, I did find it a bit predictable. It was also satisfying, but for a book described as a “thriller” I did feel it was slightly lacking in suspense. The order of the deaths was fairly clear early on, as was the answer to the mystery of the reason behind the first death. Similarly, the big reveal about Grizela’s past wasn’t much of surprise because a bit too much information was shared early on in the book.
That said, I still enjoyed reading A Penance for Crows and give it three stars.
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