New Book Alert: The Cabin Sessions by Isobel Blackthorn; Limited Setting and Ominous Sense of Dread Highlight This Session

 

New Book Alert: The Cabin Sessions by Isobel Blackthorn; Limited Setting and Ominous Sense of Dread Highlight This Session

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The strongest adjective that I can use to describe Isobel Blackthorn's The Cabin Sessions is "ominous." On the surface not much happens until the very end but the entire book fills the Reader with such dread and anticipation that they know something bad is going to happen long before it does.

The Cabin Sessions is different from Blackthorn's previous works, Prison in the Sun and The Ghost of Villa Winter. Both of those books were mysteries involving murder, hate crimes, and sexual assault set against the backdrop of the beautiful Canary Islands. In those works, the exterior setting was just as important as the plot and character's actions. The beautiful island is a contrast to the darkness that the characters suffer. 

The Cabin Sessions does something similar but with a different type of setting. Instead of opening up, the action is contained and limited. The setting of the book is mostly on Christmas Eve inside a bar/nightclub/local hangout in small town Burton called The Cabin. At The Cabin, musicians and other entertainers of dubious talent entertain the locals one night a week. Most of the locals attend the sessions to drink, listen to or mock the music, and try their best to ignore their troubles. 

It doesn't help the creepy atmosphere that The Cabin Sessions is full of miserable characters with enough emotional baggage to fill an entire airport terminal. The character's interior lives add to the overall dread as they are filled with secret sins, obsessions, and relationships ready to come out.

The cast includes: 

Adam- A guitarist and newcomer to Burton. He just ended an unhealthy relationship with the abusive rocker, Juan. He is dealing with the death of Benny, his close friend and mentor and Juan's jealousy over Adam's friendship with other men. He also is terrified  when he sees a sinister unknown man outside the Cabin that may have done something illegal. When Juan barges in to fill in for the recently deceased Benny, Adam is filled with revulsion and longing for his ex.

Philip and Eva- They are a brother and sister who live next to Adam and across the bridge from The Cabin. Philip is a plumber and handy person who has his way with many of the women (and some of the men) of Burton. He has a salacious history and is one third of a love triangle that is in the process of ending badly.

Eva is usually in her own little world doing peculiar things like collecting stamps from her job at the post office, holding her breath under water for a record time, and talking to "mermaids" that only she can see. However, her chapters reveals forbidden longings and desires that she is unable to reveal. 

Rebekah and David- The proprietors of The Cabin and organizers of the Sessions. They are an ultra religious couple that try to keep a firm hold over their daughter, Hannah as she serves food and buses tables. Unfortunately, Hannah rebels against their watchful gaze by sneaking around with men. She ends up in a very precarious situation.

Cynthia- Dulcimer player, local eccentric, and some believe witch. She is in mourning for her sister, Joy, who most believe disappeared but she is convinced that she died. Cynthia also has a prophetic gift in which she displays that one of the gang is going to die before the night is through.

Delilah- She is the closest thing that Burton has to a diva. She is often the center of attention and acts as a confidante to many of the other characters. Also her father was the pastor at Burton but was defrocked after a sex scandal. She may have some buried rage against those who made it happen.

There are also a few other characters like Nathan (terrible songwriter, Hannah's boyfriend, and is also close to Eva), Alf (blues guitarist with a questionable musical history that he often embellishes), and Joshua and Ed (a duo who are often together, the former has a criminal history and the latter a bad tempered wife). 

With the small cast and limited setting, The Cabin Sessions would make a good stage play or short film. (Eva's chapters in particular would make effective monologues of a woman who may be in the process of losing her sanity and could be a very unreliable narrator.)

Most of the conflicts are implied and revealed through conversations and inner thoughts which often contradict each other. Everyone is hiding something and no one is revealing anything until they are forced to.

Most of the troubles are hinted at and it's partly because of the setting being largely in the Cabin. Despite some dramatic confrontations and dreadful situations throughout the night (like a rancid smell, Cynthia's predictions, and the strange man outside) no one makes an effort to leave the Cabin. It almost invites the possibility that they can't or won't leave. Perhaps The Cabin serves as a sort of Purgatory or holding pattern, even an askew and imperfect sanctuary, which tries to keep the bad things away. 

Unfortunately, The Cabin Sessions shows that troubles don't end at the front door of The Cabin. Sometimes they bang the door down and shake the Cabin's walls to create a giant explosion making what was once hidden and ominous become upfront and terrifying.