The Radleys: A Novel Matt Haig
Free Press, December 2010
ISBN: 978-1439194010
A family satire about midlife crisis, addiction, sexual desire and teenage angst enacted among a 21st-century nuclear family of vampires.
There isn’t exactly a lack of vampire fiction around at the moment, so it would take something quite distinctive to stand out from the crowd. I think Matt Haig’s new novel manages to do just that. The Radleys may appear to be a normal family living in a sleepy North Yorkshire town; but parents Peter and Helen keep a dark secret from their neighbours, and even from their children – The Radleys are a family of abstaining vampires.
Father Peter is a physician, mother Helen keeps house and urges her children to eat better, and teenage children Rowan and Clara struggle with bullies at school. What sets them apart is that Peter and Helen Radley are closeted vampires who have not yet told their children they, too, are vampires. Instead, they eat a lot of meat to assuage cravings and live by “The Abstainer’s Handbook,” a sort of Bible for non-practicing vampires.
The secrecy can’t last forever, though. When young Clara Radley is attacked by Stuart Harper, a boy from school, she defends herself by biting his hand, which draws blood; that first taste gives Clara a strength that she’s never known, and a desire for more – Harper doesn’t stand a chance. Peter does his best to cover up the killing, and (against Helen’s wishes) calls on his brother Will, a practising vampire with hypnotic powers and a distinct lack of morals. The careful charade of the Radleys’ existence may be about to come to an end.
Each chapter tells a part of the story from one of the family's point of view but also from a couple of their neighbours. The fact that we got to see what people were thinking on the outside made this book different to anything that I had read before. Due to the way this story is told, you really get to see the whole picture and how certain actions and decisions can affect more than one person.
Matt Haig has created an endearing family in the Radleys. It is a character driven story with several interesting plot twists that keep the story moving forward. With the major outpouring of vampire novels currently out and in the works, The Radleys is a refreshing change of pace.
MATT HAIG was born in 1975 in Sheffield, and grew up in Newark, Nottinghamshire. He studied at Hull University and Leeds University and currently lives in York. After running his own internet marketing company and working for a nightclub in Spain, he became a full-time writer. He writes for various national newspapers, including The Guardian and The Independent.
