JUMP CUT by Helen Grant (2023)

I received a signed copy of this book from the author, whose short stories have been appearing in ST for a good while. Jump Cut concerns a young woman, Theda Garrick, who ventures to rural Scotland and encounters a very unpleasant old lady who is immensely wealthy and lives in a mansion. If that's not Gothic enough for you, Theda is a widow, still suffering after the sudden death of her beloved husband. 

Theda's name reflects her father's fascination with early cinema (Theda Bara being one of the sirens of the silent screen). Theda shares that fascination and jumps at the chance to interview Mary Arden, a 104-year-old British star of the pre-war years. Mary is the only surviving person involved in the making of a lost movie, The Simulacrum. She offers Theda exclusive interviews for a putative book. But it soon transpires that not only is Mary Arden as 24-carat monster, probing Theda's emotional wounds with callous enthusiasm; there is another presence in Garthside House that is even more unsettling than the faded star.

This is a real page-turner in the old-fashioned sense but with a distinctly modern spin on the central character. Theda's first-person, present-tense story unfolds swiftly and we find out more about her through flashbacks. She has a mishap on the road, meets a handsome stranger called Angus, then encounters Mrs Harris the enigmatic housekeeper (no Gothic tales is complete without one), and then collides with the monstrous ego of Mary Arden. 

Arden's interview technique trumps Theda's. She bullies the younger woman into revealing her past, particularly about her relationship with her late husband. Each interview session becomes an unequal fencing match, with the centenarian trying to inflict emotional wounds while Theda struggles to extra useful information. The reader can guess what this is leading up to but it is still a shock when the revelation comes.

Theda's other problems, in order of importance, are Mary's handsome but vain and feckless nephew Richard and a mysterious presence that walks the corridors at night. The latter prompts Theda to lock her door, but one night she forgets. Someone enters her darkened room, feeling over the pillow and bedcovers while Theda cowers in a corner. Later, she finds out who or what it is...

Eventually, Mary Arden's real purpose in inviting Theda to Garthside is revealed, and the truth is suitably horrifying. (It must be noted that this book does contain details of abuse, emotional and physical, but it is handled carefully.) There is a suitably tense denouement, with a very cinematic climax. 

This is Helen Grant's best book to date. It cleverly updates the Gothic horror genre (the author is a Le Fanu fan and it shows) and offers a cunning twist on the magic of cinema. It would, in fact, make an excellent film. 

Theda Bara