Review: Darling Jim by Christian Moerk

Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (March 31, 2009)
ISBN-10: 0805089470
Source: Purchased

Three women are found dead in a home in a Dublin suburb.  They are identified as Moira Hegarty and her two nieces, Fiona and Róisín Walsh.  It is soon discovered that Fiona and Róisín were held as captives by their aunt, apparently for many months.  There is evidence of a third person but the body is never recovered.  Moira was killed by her nieces during an escape attempt; one niece is found brutally murdered in an upstairs bedroom and the other is found in secluded room, both bodies indicate signs of starvation.  It isn’t until two diaries are discovered by a postal clerk that we learn the motive behind the murders, and the reason for the captivity.

Darling Jim is a story told through journals.  Fiona Walsh herself describes a man named Jim, a handsome stranger who arrives in this small Irish town via a red motorcycle.  He travels through Ireland, telling a story of a young man is transformed into a wolf.  Women swoon in Jim’s presence, and it’s not long before Fiona falls for him.  They have one lustfull night together.  Afterward, Fiona can’t help but be jealous when she sees Jim going off  with another woman. She follows him and soon learns of his purpose in town.  While he’s off sleeping with the town’s women, his partner robs the women of their possessions. Women who discover his ploy are murdered.  It becomes evident to the Ward sisters that the magical fairy tale that Jim weaves is really a transcript of his own life.

Darling Jim is definitely not a book for the faint of heart.  Within the first thirty pages, Moerk describes three very gruesome murders.  There are also scenes of other violent acts throughout the book.  While this is a very odd and creepy book, I do believe it is one that still deserves to be read.  I thoroughly enjoyed Moerk’s gothic style of writing, and his way of weaving fairy tales into the plot.  The descriptive writing grabbed my attention immediately and I was instantly absorbed in the story. The characters are developed through journal entries, telling their stories from the grave. While there are several subplots weaved throughout, I think Moerk did a very good job of tying them together and wrapping them up neatly at the end.

While I wouldn’t recommend this book to everyone due to the gruesome imagery, I would recommend it to fans of gothic fiction and horror.

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