Book Review: The Split

Author Sharon Bolton cooks up an aptly chilling psychological mystery in The Split, which is about a British glaciologist, Felicity Lloyd, who seeks refuge in one of the most remote places on Earth to escape from her ex-husband, while giving her an opportunity to research the effects of climate change. The split, here, is not just about the huge chunks of ice that may thaw and break off from the ice shelves that are attached to the Antarctic coastline, but also refers to Felicity's fractured mental state, who has trouble recollecting the things that happened to her during her time in Cambridge, her memories jumbled and distorted to the point of making her question her own sanity. The fugues and blackouts coincide with strange journal entries and a string of murders, sending her down on a rabbit hole of paranoia and fear. The true nature of Felicity's illness is not hard to guess, but Bolton, to her credit, weaves an atmospheric and intricate mystery, giving contrasting perspectives, shading in background and teasing out several intertwined strands of intrigue.