Undiscovered Scotland

 

"The Driving Seat" by Abigail Abbas is an intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable novel set initially in London but mainly in Highland Perthshire. The central character is Emma Propeller, a surname she's acquired by marriage to a man weird enough to have chosen it via deed poll and selfish enough to have inflicted it on her. Which you might have though was enough of a red flag for anyone, but apparently not for Emma. When her husband's narcissistic behavior finally crosses the threshold she's able to put up with, by expecting her to accept his bringing his new lover into the household, Emma flees to Scotland, taking her baby with her.

The new life with a new name she's hoping for turns out to be more complicated than she'd expected and she finds herself having to tell an ever more elaborate set of lies simply to exist from day to day. And then Emma's past catches up with her and events spiral completely out of control. That's about all I feel able to tell you without risking spoiling things. Suffice it to say that the ending is hugely important to a reader's enjoyment of a book, and "The Driving Seat" delivers a beautifully crafted ending that is as satisfying as it is unexpected.

The publisher's description gives an alternative take on the plot: "Emma Propeller is trying to swerve the wreckage of her marriage. When her husband returns from rehab with a new lover, Emma bolts with her baby on a midnight train to a castle in the Scottish Highlands. A job as a live-in driver for a glamorous marchioness promises safety and the chance to reinvent herself. Everything seems to have fallen into place. But the castle is no sanctuary. Dark secrets stalk its halls, the marchioness’s behaviour spirals into the unhinged and someone, Emma suspects, is following her. She hasn’t steered herself out of danger – she’s driven straight into it."