THE NURSERY

Several story lines intermingle to reveal the Lovecraftian horrors at the heart of this novel.

Sean and Eleanor are British tourists visiting their friend Peter on the tiny island nation of Copunica in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Copunicans are an odd and extremely reclusive people, having had little contact with the outside world until the pressures of 21st-century technology and globalization finally began to pry open the island’s ports to tourism and trade. Among the strange things Sean and Eleanor experience upon arrival are that the Copunicans have six fingers on each hand and brains that are somehow different from our own. There are also the bizarre towering structures dotting the landscape, which are linked to the natives’ religion–one that that is counting down the days to an apocalypse of some kind. Copunicans are tight-lipped regarding this religion, and Hargodd is skilled at slipping details into the various narrative threads, slowly ratcheting up the atmosphere of dread confronting the visitors. The Nursery recalls the beloved sci-fi and horror short stories of H.P. Lovecraft. However, several of Hargodd’s style choices are unsuccessful, such as shifting among first-, third- and even second-person narration for the assorted story lines. The surreal account of an oppressed Copunican becomes even more disorienting when it’s framed in the second person. Though the story picks up speed in the latter half as Copunica’s secrets are gradually revealed, the languor with which the opening chapters proceed may mean that readers never make it that far.

Atmospheric tension builds slowly into a compelling and nightmarish vision.