Lily, a famous TV presenter, is found looking unruffled beside a dead body after rumours of mysterious bruises. She denies guilt and says nothing. Meanwhile her estranged childhood friend Safa, a disgraced journalist, decides to investigate the truth—only to uncover far more than she ever expected.
The library at SWFT was lucky enough to receive free copies of What Happens in the Dark from the publisher Harper Collins, but this has not influenced our views of the novel. The majority of the SWFT Wellbeing Reading Group enjoyed the story, with several mentioning they had felt compelled to finish the book and that it was quite a quick read.
Several group members said that they would probably have chosen the book themselves if it hadn’t been the book group choice. We felt the story dealt well with some difficult themes, including domestic violence, coercion, misogyny and toxic masculinity, rape, and class. We generally liked the Kia Abdullah’s writing style, and the vivid descriptions of Lily and Safa’s childhoods.
The characters, especially Lily, weren’t very likable, although several people felt empathy for Safa. For an investigative journalist, Safa didn’t seem curious or suspicious about aspects of the murder of Richard (Lily’s husband). We appreciated that she was also trying to focus on the Glassman case, but it didn’t seem as though she was really paying attention – however hindsight (especially for readers) is a wonderful thing! The parallels between the Glassman attacks on the local community, and Lily’s case were recognisable, especially the sense of shame the violence brought.
We thought some of the more minor characters were more fleshed out than others. We ended the story still feeling that we didn’t know much about Lily’s sister Natalie (who looks after Lily’s teenage son Harry after Richard’s murder). One group member mentioned that they thought this was an unlikely situation as Richard had a family who could have looked after Harry (rather than him living with the sister of his father’s accused murderer).
Safa’s dad, Jahangir, and Imran, her on/off boyfriend, felt intrinsic to the story and were easy to envisage. They also brought home the difficulties Safa continued to face in her career while dealing with the benefits and disadvantages of her cultural heritage and class. Her ability to talk to the victims of the Glassman, but their inability to speak for themselves was very emotive.
The plot twist was a surprise to some readers, whilst others felt that they had seen it coming. Looking back, Kia Abdullah definitely dropped some clues. We scored this twist in the tale 4/5 – and hope that there may be a sequel for Safa.
Christmas is coming!
Why not join our staff Wellbeing Reading Group on 21st January at 1pm, when we’ll be discussing what we’ve been reading over the Christmas period? Old favourites, new recommendations – or that longed-for book that didn’t turn out to be quite what you were expecting… all welcome!
