Nana by Mark Towse
Nana is a debut novella by author Mark Towse. It weighs in at 120 pages, and it was released on March 26, 2021 by D&T Publishing.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with this novella. I had seen a few people posting about it, and each of them said the same thing - this book is one to read! Generally, a cover really catches my eye when I am selecting what to read next. This time, though, I decided I wouldn’t judge a book by its cover. I mean, let’s be honest. Good old Nana isn’t really giving me a “cookies and warm hugs” vibe. I would recoil if she offered up a sticky, warm candy from her pocketbook. Still, there’s something about her that drew me in. If you look at her closely, you get a little bit of a Jekyll and Hyde feel. There’s definitely more to Nana than meets the eye, and I was ready to dig in and find out.
Nana is a story about a 12-year-old boy named Olly who is forced to spend the night with his grandmother so his parents can have some privacy to discuss their rocky relationship. Olly is not excited in the least, he’d rather play video games at home, but he begrudgingly goes along with the plan. Confused by events that are destroying his parents’ marriage, his grandmother is quick to step in and try to ease his mind. What he thinks will be an evening of boredom turns out to be a night he will never forget. One thing is certain, though, Nana will do whatever it takes to take good care of him.
There are a handful of characters in this book that all play a role in the main portion of the story. In the beginning, Towes introduces you to each of the residents in Nana’s neighborhood, Newhaven Crescent, which is filled with eccentric retirees. There are some really strange folks living there, and they all seem to be battling similar skin afflictions as well as harboring some rather odd fetishes. At first, I was a little thrown by the short intro chapters dedicated to each of them. The book starts out with the reader following a young paperboy on his deliveries to each of the houses in Newhaven Crescent, complete with a glimpse into the oddities of each character in each brief chapter. Then, once all of the chapter introductions are done, you get into the meat of the story. I understand why Towse did this. It does help to seamlessly incorporate the characters into the main plot of the story later, since the reader will have a basic understanding of each of them and not question their strange actions. Also, once the intros end, you get to meet Olly’s parents and learn the background story as to why they need Olly to spend the night at Nana’s. Then, you are off on a wild ride!
There were a handful of things I really enjoyed while reading this story. I always love experiencing the vernacular of a different country. Towse, described on Amazon as “an Englishman living in Australia,” does not disappoint. There are words and phrases that made me feel like I was transported to a different place, which added a layer of fun for me as a reader. Towse also fooled me a bit, which was quite pleasant. In one scene, I thought I’d figured out what was going to happen, and then he pulled the rug out from under me. I quite enjoyed the surprise. There was one thing, though, that really brought it for me in this book. It is the fact that Towse wasn’t afraid to “go there” when it came to disturbing or grotesque moments. He does a great job describing what is going on in those scenes, and he even livens it up with a little humor. I appreciated that. He didn’t back down when he could have in some of the action scenes, which only heightened the story. It’s always a good moment when something happens and I catch my mouth hanging open. That happened a few times during Nana.
One of the things I noted while reading this was the feeling I had in the pit of my stomach. Towse did such a fantastic job of making me feel the anguish, fear, utter panic, and anxiety that Olly experiences. I was turning the pages with anticipation and dread for what was going to happen next. I know I scrunched up my face in disgust a few times at the antics of some of those curmudgeons in Nana’s neighborhood, too.
I’ve said it in numerous other reviews, and I am going to say it again here. Over the past few years, I have absolutely fallen in love with reading horror from a variety of Australian authors. I have stumbled upon some amazing writers who know how to bring the gore and the creepiness that I crave. I’ll be adding Mark Towse to that growing list.
I hope you’ll take a little trip to Nana’s house and see what surprises she has for you tonight.
I’ll leave this review with one phrase that cracked me up throughout the book. “That really gets my goat!”
You can find more about Mark Towse on his website as well as on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, and Amazon.
