- Paperback: 300 pages
- Publisher: Orenda Books (16 April 2020)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1913193217
- ISBN-13: 978-1913193218
Synopsis
A haunted theatre
A murdered actress
Three cursed teenagers
A secret that devastates them all…
The Dean Wilson Theatre is believed to be haunted by a long-dead actress, singing her last song, waiting for her final cue, looking for her killer…
Now Dust, the iconic musical, is returning after twenty years. But who will be brave enough to take on the role of ghostly goddess Esme Black, last played by Morgan Miller, who was murdered in her dressing room?
Theatre usher Chloe Dee is caught up in the spectacle. As the new actors arrive, including an unexpected face from her past, everything changes. Are the eerie sounds and sightings backstage real or just her imagination? Is someone playing games?
Is the role of Esme Black cursed? Could witchcraft be at the heart of the tragedy? And are dark deeds from Chloe’s past about to catch up with her?
Not all the drama takes place onstage. Sometimes murder, magic, obsession and the biggest of betrayals are real life. When you’re in the theatre shadows, you see everything.
Review
Twenty years ago the Musical, Dust opened to rave reviews, until the run was cut short after the lead actress Morgan Miller was murdered in her dressing room, and is said to haunt the theatre. Now it is coming back, and to the theatre where it all started, but is the show cursed. Chloe Dee saw the show when she was ten year old, and is now an usher at the Dean Wilson Theatre, excited to see it return. In 2015 Dee and her friend Jess used to sing and dream of playing the lead Emse Black, but there is something about that last summer where they were at youth theatre with Ryan that is foggy in her mind, but the re-appearance of Jess brings back fragments of memory, of a ouija board and a feeling of unease. Myth and curses combined with a twenty year mystery combine to make this a magical and spellbinding read that took my breath away.
“I’m still here; I am dust, I’m those fragments in the air, the gold light dancing there, that breeze from nowhere.” These are some of the most beautiful and haunting lines I have ever read, and they really sum up the essence of this book. Louise Beech’s writing in the rest of the book is just as poetic and stunning, bringing atmosphere and magic to the book. I Am Dust is written with a split timeline, in 2005 when lead character Chloe is part of the youth theatre with best friend Jess and Ryan who wants to try ouija board, never a good idea in my opinion. Louise really captures the teenage angst and sexual tension of Chloe, Jess and Luke who are in a love triangle; Chloe is in love with Jess, who in turn is in love with Luke. Added to this is the spiritual element of the ouija board, the calling of the spirits, and the underlying menace of Luke having his own agenda. This part of the story had me wanting to hide behind a cushion, and tell them to stop dabbling in things that they shouldn’t be dabbling in.
In the present day, Chloe is an usher and seems far away from her teenage self. She has lost her self confidence, no longer sees herself as being an actress, and has suffered from mental health problems which have manifested themselves in self harm. The quote above is from the musical Dust, sung by the Esme Black, but is relatable to the way Chloe sees herself; she picks up the glitter, is in the background never to be seen as she is always in the shadows not the limelight. She has never forgotten Jess, her first love, and her best friend, so when she comes back into her life these feelings resurface. This reunion causes tension, sexual and atmospheric, as Chloe and Jess start to remember that summer, a frisson of fear between them but they don’t know why. There is a bit of light relief in the character of Chester, Chloe’s fellow usher, who loves to gossip, especially about who may have murdered Morgan Miller twenty years ago. Morgan Miller’s murder is a thread that runs through the book, no one was convicted of her murder, so who did it and why and will her death curse the return of the musical. You can’t pigeon hole this book into one genre, it is part ghost story, part psychological thriller but is so brilliant that it deserves to be in a category all of its own called bloody brilliant.
I don’t think my review can do justice to I Am Dust, I have read and reread my review, changed things but I still don’t think I can convey how much I loved this book; Louise Beech has blown my mind with this book. Haunting and etherial in feel with an intensity that is powerful yet in an understated way. Stunning, sensational, spine tingling and sublime, this is one of the best books I have read in a long time; my advice is to buy this book and read for yourself.
I would like to thank Anne Cater from Random Things Tours and Karen Sullivan from Orenda Books for my copy of the book in return for my honest review.
