Courier by Zoe Rosi - A review

‘Courier’ by Zoe Rosi is a beautifully creepy tale of obsessions, self-loathing and, in a sense, loneliness.

The novella is told from the point of view of Bob, our courier. Humorous, self-deprecating and desperate, Bob goes from hating the anonymity of being a nameless (and indeed because of the uniform, faceless) servant of capitalism, to revelling in the freedom it gives him to peer into people’s lives. And one person in particular, Natalie.

While making a routine delivery to a property he dislikes, he spots a pale-looking Natalie in the hallway's background and convinces himself, from everything that he has previously heard while waiting outside with parcels, that she is the victim of domestic abuse.

With little else going on in his life, not since he lost his shop and relationship a few years back, Bob fantasises about his angel with clipped wings and sets in motion a plan not necessarily to free her from her oppressive husband, but to catch her for himself.

By telling the story through Bob’s eyes, Rosi invites us to both sympathises and cringe at his thoughts and actions, and that we do.

I found this book hard to put down, as it kept drawing me back in for one more (often short) chapter. The pacing was spot on and by the time the finale approached, it was impossible to put down.

However, that (very) end is subjective. Personally, at first, I didn’t like it. It left me with too many questions and in a way seemed too abrupt compared to what had come before. Then the next day, and the day after, I still thought about it. How it made sense in terms of perspective and tone. And while it still didn’t hit that spot for me, it worked and was the right creative decision. As evidenced because I haven’t just moved on to the next book, it and Bob live in my head rent free as the kids say.

For that reason, there is no way I can give this book less than five stars.