The Blurb
A Scottish journalist enters a dark online world in this unsettling novel of men, women, resentment, and rage...
Edinburgh reporter Frankie has finally been assigned a high-profile crime story about a series of sexual assaults, and relishes her big break. Her article focuses on the issue of women’s safety, which doesn’t seem to have improved much since the era of the Yorkshire Ripper.
When she faces a torrent of abuse online, it leads her to discover the phenomenon of incels— and puts her in the sights of those trying to stop her covering the story. But she refuses to back down. What she doesn’t realise is that in this murky online world, one man is being goaded into a spectacular and shocking attack with Frankie as his main target...
My Review
Well, this was an eye opener! I was aware of the incel movement but in a very superficial way. I realise this is fiction but Heather seems to have done her research and I now feel more informed. And more horrified!
Frankie is a young journalist at an Edinburgh paper keen to show she can write more than the fluff pieces she is currently working on. She is given an opportunity to write about women's issues and also about a recent spate of attacks on local women. Initially slightly reluctant, not wanting to be labelled as a feminist writer, she soon becomes invested in her subjects and the people they involve. Boyfriend Todd kind of wants to do the right thing but doesn't really get his girlfriend's mission and really isn't as supportive as he could be. But they are both horrified by some vile comments and threats about what might happen to Frankie... they just respond in different ways.
I liked Frankie. I liked her ambition, her determination to show everyone how much more she is can do. I admired her for sticking to her guns when it came to doing what she believed was the right thing but got a little frustrated with her when she didn't seem to take threats to her safety seriously. Here I found myself tending to side, just a little bit, with Todd, who worries about her. She asks him to help her, and when he reluctantly does, she doesn't necessarily believe what he tells her. That said, more generally, I was not a Todd fan - how Frankie has put up with him for so many years is beyond me! The other character I must mention is Liam. It's hard not to feel sorry for him in the earlier part of the story - I could imagine him, red faced and teary with humiliation. My sympathy soon waned for him, although it was all to easy to see why he behaves the way he does from then on (not that he made choices most people would make).
We all know how great the internet can be. We also know how dangerous it can be, that there are sites (and the people behind them) just waiting to prey on vulnerable visitors, get inside their minds. Incels, for those unfamiliar with the term, are involuntary celibates - men who are unsuccessful romantically and sexually and who can develop a deep hatred of women and more 'successful' men. I don't know how big it active the incel community in this country is but I remember at least one US gun massacre in recent years where the gunman has links to an online incel group. If this book is any indication at all of how much hatred there is online here, it's very scary.
Open Your Eyes is full of action and tension and things gather pace quickly from Frankie's well received St Valentine's Day piece at the start of the book until the events of the denouement. It's a novel for our time, a warning of the dangers of the internet, corrosive control and brainwashing, and often a challenging read. I found it a little repetitive in places, but overall I enjoyed it - a strong debut novel with a brave, unusual, subject choice. I look forward to seeing what Heather comes up with next.
The Author
Heather was born in Scotland and after moving around Europe with her parents and sister, settled in Hampshire where she met her husband, Stuart.
After leaving the rat-race in 2018, Heather re-trained as an editor and proof-reader and entered the world of publishing. These days she works as a part-time freelancer and a part-time Commissioning Advisor for Bloodhound.
Heather was inspired to start writing her novel by the authors who have become her closest friends. Now the ideas are flowing she has plans to write several more over the coming years.
When she isn’t reading, Heather enjoys spending her time watching sport – especially her beloved rugby – and exploring the British countryside with Stuart.
Heather’s debut novel, Open Your Eyes, is published by Bloodhound.
For regular bookish updates, you can follow Heather on Twitter: @HeatherJFitt
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