Torment

Tess Rochester is a young nurse working and living in London. Her parents divorce when she is quite young and she blames her father, Harold, for forcing their family apart. Her mother, Marianne, leaves their family home in Surrey and moves into an apartment in London. She understands, as difficult as it was at the time, that she could not provide for her children, the way Harold could. Not long after the divorce, Harold marries Colleen and she moves into their home with two children of her own. Tess has two older brothers, Marcus and Ernest. There is a weight of expectation that burdens Marcus, the eldest of the siblings. He is expected to excel in the pathways that his father crafts for him. When he no longer wants to be part of the rowing team and drops out of Law School, Harold turns his attention to Ernest. A promising rugby career beckons. However, once again, Harold’s overbearing nature drives Ernest away and he too crumples under the weight of expectation.

The story begins in Surrey, during Christmas (2017). Marcus has returned from Vietnam, where he currently lives. He always returns to England to spend Christmas with his family. As he is about to drive back up to London, he tells Tess that their father is under investigation by the IRS for tax evasion. This is the first time Tess hears about it and naturally she wants to know more. Marcus accidentally finds out that his father has been moving the profits he makes from business interests in China to a shell company in Vietnam and not declaring the income to the IRS.

A few days after Marcus returns to Vietnam, they receive news that he has died. The family, accompanied by their Aunt Lena and cousins Isabelle and Sophie, rush to Ha Noi where they learn that Marcus had taken his own life.

Each proceeding chapter maps the separate journeys that Tess (accompanied by Isabelle) and Ernest make through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand in search of peace and to get to learn more about their brother and what drove him to take his own life. Through their travels, however, they suspect that Marcus’ death may have been caused by someone else and somehow they suspect that it may relate back to their father. When the two women realise that they are being followed, they begin to question whether Marcus took his own life or whether more sinister forces are at play. They begin to fear for their own safety.