A Review: The Farm

A couple of weeks ago I checked out a few books from the library. I did this despite the fact that I already have an unwieldly pile of books on top of my bookshelf that has been threatening to topple over for months. Oh, but I'm so glad I checked them all out, because they've all been fabulous so far, and The Farm by Tom Rob Smith is the first I've finished.

I heard the author interviewed some time ago on NPR and heard him describe this book. I don't recall exactly what he said, but I remember thinking, "Man, I have to read this!" Then, of course, I promptly forgot all about it until I saw it on the "New Arrivals" shelf at the library. Into my book bag it went.

It really was a good thing I was reading three other books along with it, because otherwise I would have finished it much sooner. It is certainly one of those books one could easily devour and then be sad it's all done, regretting it hadn't been savored (I often feel this way about chocolate, too). But I paced myself and truly enjoyed the adventure.

I suppose The Farm could best be described as a psychological thriller. It's told through the voices of a son, Daniel, who starts off the story and appears as the main character, and his mother, Tilde, who's really the storyteller. The premise is that Daniel's parents have retired from England to a farm in the Swedish countryside, where Daniel's mother is originally from. Out of the blue and some months after his parents have left for Sweden, Daniel receives a panicked phone call from his father saying his mother is "not well" and has essentially escaped from a mental institution in Sweden. Long story short, Daniel's mother appears back in England and says that things are not as his father says. There is a plot moving against her, no one is to be trusted, and he must believe her or be counted against her as well. And so the story begins, Daniel's mother explaining in great detail everything that had happened to her, everything that has convinced her of a vast and dangerous conspiracy taking place in the idyllic Swedish countryside.

While there is not a lot of physical action in this book, and much of the story is almost more told rather than shown, I was still pulled deeply into the plot and characters. I related to Daniel, who can't seem to wrap his head around this drastic changes in his parents, whom he loves so much, but then couldn't help but side with his mother, who comes across as the quintessentially disbelieved woman, the one the men want to shut away and claim insane rather than deal with her uncomfortable truths. 

And this idea of women and their role alongside their men continually pops up as a theme in this book. What fun it was to tease apart those overarching themes about relationships and sexuality. The Farm was light and easy to read in many ways, but it also managed to give me something to think about, which I loved.

I truly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it heartily to anyone who is looking for a solidly good and likely quick read.