“Good Night, My Darling” is a book written by a well known mystery writer and marketed as a mystery novel. In this case the genre stamp is somewhat unfortunate as it takes away an otherwise effective unpredictable element. And even though there is ultimately murder in the tale, as a whole it really doesn’t fit seamlessly into the thriller and especially not the mystery category.
Frimansson has written a solid psychological tale with honed, highly literary language. She takes us to a grey, melancholy Sweden where people live in a frozen state of vague and barely registered malcontent. She solidifies her themes on modern existence in three nuanced and fleshed-out characters.
Berit is a book editor working for a small publisher. Her ever present insecurities and sense of aimlessness intensify when she is told she will be laid off.
Justine is an heiress living alone in her family’s old house with a lone raven to keep her company. She is plagued by memories of a deeply unhappy childhood.
Hans Peter is a man with a misspent youth and a failed marriage behind him. He spends his lonely nights working in a hotel reception.
Very quickly it becomes apparent that Justine is the main protagonist of the novel. Berit and Hans-Peter occupy only the present whereas we get to visit Justine’s troubled history. A daughter of a rich man who died before his time, Justine had to spend most of her childhood in the care of her authoritarian stepmother Flora. Systematic attacks on her self-esteem at home were accompanied by equally systematic domination by her schoolmates.
In the present Flora is dying on a hospital bed, unable to communicate. Visiting her stepmother makes Justine become haunted by her childhood again. She happens to get in contact with Berit, who we learn was her schoolmate and a major force behind the bullying.
“Good Night, My Darling” forms into a beautiful but hopeless tale on the psychology of revenge and the absolute cruelty associated with bullying and positions of authority. The depictions of Justine’s childhood are nuanced and dully horrid more than outright shocking, but they are still extremely uncomfortable to read. Frimansson takes the reader inside Justine’s psyche and summons a clear understanding on the ramifications of cruelty. Symmetrically, the insecurities of a bully are addressed through Berit. Flora is left a bit distant from the reader; she is seen through the eyes of a child, overbearing and unreasonable, even though her self-doubts and fears come across.
The problem with this novel is the fact that it’s divided into three different segments that don’t fit together as well as they maybe could have. This brings unevenness into the tone and structure which is slightly disorienting. Still, Frimansson manages to keep the story together well enough and as a whole the book works.
If you are looking for a fast-paced thriller or a mystery to be solved, “Good Night, My Darling” isn’t for you. But if you want to read a meaningful tale with heavy themes and rich characters this will suit you perfectly.