Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick review – teenage kicks

This 1980s-set debut novel takes place over 24 hours as the ripple effects of a teacher’s death are explored

Dark Like Under, Alice Chadwick’s ambitious and affecting debut novel, begins and ends at midnight. The 24 hours in between, while at times sunlit and sweltering, hang heavy with the shadow cast by the night before.

That shadow is the death of Mr Ardennes. The story is set in England in the 1980s and it begins with Robin and Jonah, two teenagers at the local grammar school, bumping into Mr Ardennes, a well-liked teacher at the school. It is Sunday night – or Monday morning – and they have slipped away from a party. They meet on the banks of the weir, where he is taking one of his regular late night walks, and exchange pleasantries. He appears distracted. “He looked a bit rough,” observes Jonah. His hands seem oddly heavy in his pockets, “like weights”. At the next morning’s school assembly, his death is announced.

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