Have you ever read something where every time you turn around you feel like you are not entirely sure what is going on. When reading The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley that was rather how I was feeling. The book is about what happens at an exclusive opening event for a reclusive and expensive retreat known as The Manor. It opens a few days before the solstice where a big party has been planned for all of the guests. Told from four different perspectives the story goes through those days as things start to gradually get weird. The owner of the retreat, Francesca, does her best to make sure everything is going smoothly while trying desperately to deny anything that could be bad, such as resurfacing events from almost fifteen years previous. Owen, her husband and the architect of the manor, is trying desperately to believe that everything is fine between him and Francesca and that there is nothing to worry about though he is trying to hide his own past from her. Eddie is a young man who works in the kitchen and is just trying to get by in a world where it seems like everything is against his family after his brother’s disappearance. Bella is a guest at the manor and is trying to reconcile the events of fifteen years ago in order to move on from what had happened.
This story was great but at times hard to follow. The plot was incredible and very intricate and detailed. However, the narrative structure is what made the story somewhat difficult. I mentioned previously that the story is told from four different perspectives and that is only somewhat true. The story also contains three different timelines of events. In the main timeline covering the events leading up the big party there are four narrators. There are also two other timelines though which cover the before and the after. In the before timeline we see journal entries covering the events of fifteen years ago from Bella’s perspective. However, in the after timeline we see the aftermath of whatever happened at the party from the point of view of a police detective, DI Walker. As you can imagine this does make things slightly difficult to follow at times. At the same time though it helps to really add layers to complexity and depth of the plot. As we see the main timeline of events unfold and are wondering about why Bella feels the need to confront Francesca we also are slowly learning about their intertwined past and the events of fifteen years ago that left Bella haunted. The way these timelines and perspectives play off of each other was incredible in many ways. I have to admit that it was definitely a pretty unique reading experience and not necessarily a style that I have come across before. There was also a lot of interesting characterization going on throughout the story. Obviously there was the characters themselves who were all extremely well developed but there were a few other interesting characters. The manor was not necessarily a character by itself but if you include the land and woods that it was part of then it does feel almost like its own character at times. It had a certain intensity to it that made it seem like more than just a piece of land and a large house. Perhaps the more interesting one though was not the setting but a group known simply as the birds. The rural area where the manor is located seems to be home to a group known only as the birds that are known for getting justice or vengeance on behalf of the locals. There continual appearances throughout the story really seem to amp up the creepy factor over time. Overall, a great story and one that I am giving four out of five stars.
This book is good but it is also a thriller with a high creepy factor so it would probably have a limited audience. If you are a reader who enjoys a good thriller than I would suggest you consider trying this story out. Like I said though, it is really creepy at times so you might want to take that into consideration. Something else to keep in mind, like most thrillers there are secrets about the characters and as they are revealed they are not pleasant. Many of them are dark and disturbing actually so this is something else to keep in mind. As you might have gathered this book is definitely aimed primarily at adults and in this case I would agree with that. There are a lot of topics present in this book that would potentially make it difficult for younger readers. It is still a good book though and if you decide to try feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.