We Spread by Iain Reid
Canadian author Iain Reid’s early novels, I’m Thinking of Ending Things and Foe, introduced an exciting new voice in suspenseful, atmospheric genre fiction, with both titles already adapted for the screen. His third novel, We Spread, is another masterful example of high-concept psychological horror. Laid out in captivating, first-person prose, we follow the story of Penny, an elderly artist living in solitude in a city apartment. Surrounded by relics and reminders of her long-dead partner (a successful painter), Penny’s life has receded to a series of ever-diminishing routines; she no longer paints nor finds joy in art. Her memory is failing, spliced into disjointed moments of clarity, each one removed from the next. Through Reid’s spare, fragmented passages, the reader is immediately situated deep within Penny’s solitary world: hours, days, perhaps weeks pass in a heartbeat. We know only what she sees and experiences.
After a nasty fall, Penny is taken to a long-term care residence – Six Cedars – settled on the edge of a vast forest far from the city, an arrangement she is told she made with her former partner. Despite her misgivings, Penny surrenders herself to the watchful care of manager Shelley and assistant Jack, and forms bonds with the few other residents. Soon, however, Shelley’s relentless mantra of staying positive and productive begins to grate. Fiercely independent for so long, Penny bristles against the loss of choice over how she lives her life. And as her splintered experience of time progresses, she begins to suspect that she and the other residents are unwitting participants in something more sinister.
In We Spread, Reid confronts that which is unavoidable for us all: ageing and death. His deft hand at plot and atmosphere calls to mind the films of David Lynch or the ‘strange tales’ of English author Robert Aickman. We Spread is a fast-paced, engrossing thriller that will hold you in its clutches from the opening right through to its stunning conclusion.
