The Farm is a fascinating premise
for a novel; two seemingly unreliable narrators who are the parents of the
protagonist, Daniel. Tom Rob Smith’s skill as a writer is evident in the
careful way he teases the plot threads out as Daniel’s mother Tilde uses her
journal to relate a sinister tale to her son surrounding the parents retirement
to a remote Swedish farm.
However nothing is what it seems.
At its dark heart the novel is a study of deception and delusion, the secrets
and lies that underpin the fabric of a life.
As a reader I found myself
fascinated by the apparent simplicity of the set-up, but quickly felt that I
could not trust anything I was being told, which I feel certain was Smith’s
intention. With a tightly focused cast of characters the distinctive voices
that Smith creates, particularly for Tilde and Daniel, are key to the success
of the novel, and the pace is carefully crafted and structured.
Because of the unusual structure
the first three quarters of the novel are told in “real time” and cover no more
than a few hours as Tilde tells her tale. I found myself completely in tune
with this pace, and consequently I initially struggled with the abrupt change
of pace in the final quarter of the novel when Daniel visits Sweden for himself
to verify the truth of Tilde’s version of events.
Smith creates a palpable sense of
dislocation within the novel and a feeling of isolation which has as much to do
with emotional resonance as geographic location.
I have to say that there was one
particular moment in the novel which didn’t work for me, which is when Tilde
produces a carved knife from her bag. My instinctive reaction was to question
just how she managed to get that through airport security! Also there were a
few loose ends within Tilde’s story which Smith had set up enticingly, but then
didn’t fully explain, which felt a little unsatisfactory. However these are
very minor gripes within what is undoubtedly a superbly written piece.
Overall I raced through the book,
fascinated to reach the end and to discover whether my guesses and deductions
were correct. Smith didn’t disappoint.
On the strength of this I have
now decided to go back and read Smith’s debut “Child 44” which had such high
praise.
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