The Golden Orphans by Gary Raymond

 

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Parthian Books; None ed. edition (1 Jun. 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1912109131
• ISBN-13: 978-1912109135

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis

Within the dark heart of an abandoned city, on an island once torn by betrayal and war, lies a terrible secret…
Francis Benthem is a successful artist; he’s created a new life on an island in the sun. He works all night, painting the dreams of his mysterious Russian benefactor, Illy Prostakov. He writes letters to old friends and students back in cold, far away London. But now Francis Benthem is found dead. The funeral is planned and his old friend from art school arrives to finish what Benthem had started. The painting of dreams on a faraway island. But you can also paint nightmares and Illy has secrets of his own that are not ready for the light. Of promises made and broken, betrayal and murder…
The Golden Orphans offers a new twist on the literary thriller.

 

Review

The Golden Orphans is set on the Island of Cyprus, but does not portray the sunny, fun holiday island you would expect but a much darker sinister view; drugs, secrets, lies and murder.  Told in the first person narrative, by a unknown narrator who goes to Cyprus to funeral of a friend and fellow artist Frances Bentham.  Frances was employed by Illy Prostakov to paint his dreams, and the cash strapped narrator follows in his friend’s footsteps and falls into the sphere of the Russian and his very different world.

This whole book is based on secrets, lies and unknowns and all the characters seem to be hiding something or not what they seem.  The narrator is unknown, apart from that he is an artist from England and has a girlfriend, Claire. Illy is very secretive, just what are these dreams about, and why does he need them captured on canvas; a near impossible task to capture what is in someone else’s head in paint. There are the guests staying with Illy, Evgeny and teenage girls Darya and Dina who seem to be in hiding.  At times this whole mysterious and surreptitious  plot is like one of Dalí’s Dreamscapes; no-one or anything is quite what it first seems.

The plot takes in the history of Cyprus since it’s segregation and invasion of the Turks in 1974 that effectively divided the Island.  This history is very simplistic however, and could maybe have been elaborated on. The Golden Orphans in the title refer to those babies and young children orphaned when Famagusta was divided in two and many Cypriots were killed.  At 180 pages this book is a bit short for me as I felt there was a lot of room for development of plot and characters and there were a few loose ends  However, there was slightly sinister atmosphere, a darkness to Cyprus, a place full of mis-fits running away from something.  There is certainly plenty of action in this shot book with gun fights, murder, dark characters, a kidnap conspiracy and a chase; maybe good things do come in small packages.

The anonymity of the narrator and the ambiguity of the other characters in The Golden Orphans adds to the atmosphere and intensity of the narrative.  This is a suspenseful, pacy and dramatic literary thriller, that builds to a dramatic crescendo; an intelligent mystery.

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