But there Lucy was, trying to make things right and return to their old rhythms. After the accident at Bennington, the two friends-once inseparable roommates-haven’t spoken in over a year. The last person Alice Shipley expected to see since arriving in Tangier with her new husband was Lucy Mason. A tad too formulaic for my personal taste spoon-feeding the “love turned to hate” idea, which was only hinted at when we first encounter these two women.“A juicy melodrama cast against the sultry, stylish imagery of North Africa in the fifties.” - The New Yorker It just seemed like the author had taken the easy way out for constructing the plot. I liked the desert setting, which made me think of Matthew Lewis’s The Monk. I really wanted this story to thrill and chill me, and I can see how it is a translation of eighteenth-century Gothic to a twentieth-century setting. Yet, the premise of this story and its potential had me with such high hopes. I found myself becoming frustrated with each woman and somehow unable to sympathise with either of them because of how stereotypical they both were as the story unfolded. The trope felt overdone, and that the only thing that Mangan had tried to do in order to make it a bit different was to crank up the cruelty and juxtapose it to the apathy of Youssef/Joseph. We have the neurotic and repressed Alice (of course a frosty Brit), the object of the “affections” of the more psychotic and dangerous Lucy (American, naturally). However, there were aspects of the characterisation that I found a bit of a cliche. It started out incredibly well when the tensions between Alice and Lucy were being hinted at. The author of this novel has a PhD in eighteenth-century Gothic fiction (one of my favourite genres), I must admit this had me dying to get stuck into it. Tangerine is an extraordinary debut, so tightly wound, so evocative of 1950s Tangier, and so cleverly plotted that it will leave you absolutely breathless.

Then Alice's husband, John, goes missing, and Alice starts to question everything around her: her relationship with her enigmatic friend, her decision to ever come to Tangier, and her very own state of mind. Lucy, always fearless and independent, helps Alice emerge from her flat and explore the country.īut soon a familiar feeling starts to overtake Alice - she feels controlled and stifled by Lucy at every turn. She has not adjusted to life in Morocco, too afraid to venture out into the bustling medinas and oppressive heat.

But Lucy is standing there, trying to make things right. After the horrific accident at Bennington, the two friends - once inseparable roommates - haven't spoken in over a year.

The perfect listen for fans of Daphne du Maurier and Patricia Highsmith, set in 1950s Morocco, Tangerine is a gripping psychological literary thriller.

Tangerine christine mangan