Dark Places
by Kate Grenville
Nomination: LA Times Finalist 1995
Date Read: January 28, 2022
Dark Places follows the rise and fall of sociopath Albion Gidley Singer. From a very early age, he recognized within himself a hollowness, a vacancy, an absence of feeling that those around him came to easily. His greatest success was learning how to mimic being a human that cared and leading a life that appeared relatively normal.
He hit all the milestones a man of his time and age should – graduating from university, marrying, popping out a few kids. He assumed the helm of his father’s business right after his death, ruling with fear and an iron fist. After ruthlessly thinning the “chaff”, he achieved great success with an even leaner staff.
His marriage to Norah was shallow at best and his methods of making love leave me terrified and shocked there weren’t more broken bones. Some around him were able to see through his façade and found the face of a heartless and soulless man. Others lauded him for his great success.
His two children, Lillian and John, both saw through his effrontery and as they grew, began slowly defying him in subtle but meaningful ways. John also seems to have been born without a soul and quietly bided his time until he could escape the iron clutch of his father. Lillian, on the other hand, was a genuine human who delighted in the world, other people and herself.
Nothing is more threatening to a sociopath than finding someone as alive as Lillian. When he realized her true humanity, he crushed the light that emanated from her very being by raping her. Through her destruction, Albion finally discovers his power and humanity, perhaps even achieving a sense of super-humanity. This, I can only imagine, is how murderers and rapists are born.
Grenville achieved an intense and entertaining character study of a truly monstrous man. I cannot recall a novel that portrayed someone so utterly detestable, so well and vividly. Well done.
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