Repeat It Today With Tears
Anne Peile
Serpent’s Tail, Aug 16 2011, $14.95
ISBN: 9781846687471
In 1972 London, Susanna is a disaffected teen who cares about nothing. Her pathetic mother and acrimonious older sister ridicule Susanna while her friends are not true BFFs. School is no escape for her as it is boring though she is intelligent having taken the Oxford exam early. Her only attachment is her obsession over her absent Welsh dad John ap Rhys Owen of whom she never met.
Susanna finds out that her dad fiftyish Jack the artist lives in Chelsea. She visits him and kisses him on the lips while failing to inform the immediately besotted Jack who she is. They begin an affair not worrying about what will happen if the truth of their filial connection becomes known to anyone including Jack.
This is a stunning character driven incestuous drama in which the first part of what Susanna does will shock the reader who knows what Jack does not. However, the second half seems even darker as the outside world begins to penetrate the incest world of father and daughter. Not an easy read as the subject is taboo; fans will appreciate the well written Repeat It Today With Tears.
Harriet Klausner
