Orenda Book Tour - A Song of Isolation

 

TITLE: A Song of Isolation

AUTHOR: Michael J. Malone

PUBLISHER: Orenda Books

PUBLISHING DATE: September 17, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: 

Film star Amelie Hart is the darling of the silver screen, appearing on the front pages of every newspaper. But at the peak of her fame she throws it all away for a regular guy with an ordinary job. The gossip columns are aghast: what happened to the woman who turned heads wherever she went? 

Any hope the furore will die down are crushed when Amelie’s boyfriend Dave is arrested on charges of child sexual abuse. Dave strongly asserts his innocence, and when Amelie refuses to denounce him, the press furore quickly turns into physical violence, and she has to flee the country. 

While Dave is locked up with the most depraved men in the country and Amelie is hiding on the continent, Damaris, the victim at the centre of the story, is also isolated – a child trying to make sense of an adult world… 

MY THOUGHTS: A Song of Isolation is a hard hitting novel with child sexual assault at its center.  So if this is a trigger for you, you might want to pass, but honestly, Malone does a wonderful job at addressing such a heavy topic and despite the subject matter, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.  Malone divides the novel into three POVs - Amelie, a once famous who is supporting her boyfriend despite such horrific allegation, Dave, the accused, who is now locked up and Demaris, the child victim.  I always enjoy multiple POVs in a book so I was thrilled to see this technique used to show the reader what each major character was experiencing.  What's even better is that we get to see Demaris grow from a young girl to a teen and see how such trauma plays into the woman she is about to become.

A Song of Isolation kept me guessing because it isn't immediately clear if Dave is actually the monster people believe.  I also really liked Amelie and it was interesting to see how she stood by Dave despite the allegations.  Having worked with child abuse allegations in the past, and with my husband currently a counseling in a local prison, I was able to easily connect with subject matter and how each character was being impacted.  Malone also did an impeccable job delving into the relationship between Dave and his cellmate Angus. 

If you are looking for an intense mystery with well developed characters and a carefully thought out plot, then look no further.  I will definitely keep my eyes open for more Malone novels in the future!

RATING: 4 paws

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Michael Malone is a prize-winning poet and author who was born and brought up in the heart of Burns’ country. He has published over 200 poems in literary magazines throughout the UK, including New Writing Scotland, Poetry Scotland and Markings. Blood Tears, his bestselling debut novel won the Pitlochry Prize from the Scottish Association of Writers. His psychological thriller, A Suitable Lie, was a number-one bestseller, and the critically acclaimed House of Spines, After He Died and In the Absence of Miracles soon followed suit. A former Regional Sales Manager (Faber & Faber) he has also worked as an IFA and a bookseller. Michael lives in Ayr.