Ellipsis by Nikki Dudley – review

Ellipsis is a brilliant debut novel by the co-editor of Streetcake magazine, Nikki Dudley. The novel begins in a dreamlike fashion as Alice, our heroine, pushes a young man to his death in front of a London underground train at Highbury and Islington. The only thing that perplexes Alice about this rather violent act is the fact that the young man, a stranger to her, breathed the words “Right on time” at her as she pushed him under, and he wasn’t referring to the arrival of the train. Having stalked her victim for several weeks, Alice now begins to hang around the home of his family, in search of the reason for his beguiling last message. Of course, Daniel Mansen’s family is suffering in the aftermath of their bereavement, but Daniel’s cousin, Thom seems to be feeling it more than than Daniel’s own brother. However, Thom is further shocked when he discovers a piece of paper in Daniel’s room that details the exact time and place of his death, which would tend to add weight to the theory that Daniel may have committed suicide, along with the fact that his room is bizarrely empty of his possessions. Thom is compelled to investigate further, and discovers that the mysterious woman at the reading of Daniel’s will had personally been invited to attend by Daniel prior to his death… Thom then literally runs into Alice in his front garden, which eventually leads him into inviting her to stay with the family, as she tells him that she’s been having problems with her landlord and can’t go home. The first of many lies that Alice tells Thom is that her name is ‘Sarah’. However, it turns out that she’s not the only liar… As Alice slowly begins to recover from her mental trauma, so Thom gradually becomes more and more unhinged… The title of the novel, Ellipsis, refers to things that are ‘left out’, and thus both Thom and Alice are haunted by the lies of their own families. And both have good reason to be traumatised… Ellipsis is a very stylish, compelling read that will stay with you for a long time, and Sparkling Books have very much lived up to their name in their presentation of this title. Nikki Dudley has a burgeoning literary career that should go on from strength to strength following the publication of the magnificent Ellipsis. I look forward to reading more works by this great writer.