Gothic, horror suspense set on a “God-Forgotten” island off SCOTLAND
A mystery set in Dover
18th March 2021
This Nowhere Place by Natasha Bell – a mystery set in Dover.
This Nowhere Place is set in both 2016 and 2026. In 2016 a great many refugees were heading across the Channel to reach England. In those days they were coming not so much on small boats, but in the backs of trucks. Dover was somewhere they passed through on their way North. Two Dover girls – Cali and her best friend Jude – were walking along a dangerous headland by some disused WW2 fortifications when they encountered a slight and cold refugee girl who had been living rough. They took pity on her (or, rather, Cali did more than Jude – but Jude went along…) and helped her with food, clothes, and bedding to enable her to survive in one of the fortifications. Mo, the girl, was cautiously grateful. Then there was a fire. Mo’s possessions were destroyed and Cali suffered terrible burns. Mo disappeared. Cali’s sister Rose, and her girlfriend Kassia came down from London to support. Everything then went seriously wrong…
Fast forward to 2026. Tarek is a successful documentary film maker. Unbeknown to the survivors of the 2016 events, he believes he may well be the brother of Mo. Back in 2016 he had sent his sister ahead on a truck from The Jungle in Calais, and had followed on behind. He had never seen her again. He comes to Dover to make a film in which he will explore the events of 2016, and holds a series of face to face interviews on camera with Jude (now in a wheelchair and just elected Mayor of Dover) and Rose still living in London with her now wife Kassia. Gradually he pieces together what actually happened in 2016. The result is shocking.
This Nowhere Place is an excellent mystery with many a twist and turn. But it is more than that. It sets out very clearly the conditions the migrants faced in the Calais camps and the perilous choices they had to make – to get to a country where they were far from assured of a welcome. Even in 2026 Tarek, as a successful filmmaker contributing to the UK economy, is facing racist sentiment and violence.
This Nowhere Place is a well thought through, and exciting, piece of writing.
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This Nowhere Place sounds like my kind of book. A mystery and all set in an area I am so familiar with. Spent my childhood holidays in East Sussex with my Nan.