The Castle by Anne Montgomery

 

Montgomery is no stranger to me: Wild Horses on the Salt was my very enjoyable introduction to her writing. This book had me equally enthralled. It deals with the very distressing subject of rape and, importantly, the impact it has on the victims, in this case, Maggie. 

 

A gang rape has left her depressed, and later, the death of her young son tips her over the edge. Eventually, she goes back to her job as park ranger at The Castle, a famous ancient Native American site. The scars of her ordeal and tragedy are still there, however, and she does her best to ease herself back into normality. But there is a man in her circle who wants Maggie for his 'prize'.

One of the four men in her entourage is a serial rapist. And this is where Montgomery keeps you turning the pages: I went from, "Oh, I know who it is!" to "Ah, no, it's him…or perhaps not, it's him!" Quite a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between the 'suspects' went on! And you're kept guessing till the very end. At the same time, the author digs deep into Maggie the victim and her distress and grief and gives you a compelling and pretty amazing character.

The story is peppered with some interesting facts, too…who knew scuba-diving for scientific research could be so fascinating, along with the Montezuma Castle's history.

Rape is a hideous crime with some alarming victim statistics, but in this well-rounded novel, Montgomery handles it brilliantly.