By Suellen Dainty
Publisher: Echo Publishing, 2025
Review
by Robyn Pryor
Suellen Dainty’s An Invisible Tattoo is a beautifully written story, set in Australia with a delightful setting of magpie song and eucalyptus trees. Moving between Kate and Ruth’s points of view, Suellen weaves an incredible story of the precious bond of friendship. She explores the childhood relationship between Ruth and Adele and the connection that grows later, between Ruth and Kate.
It’s also a story of crime. Elderly lady, Ruth, has a huge secret, and young journalist, Kate, is desperate to uncover it. Ruth is the only person alive who knows how Adele’s husband, singer songwriter, James Bennet really died. Kate must egg Ruth on to keep sifting through her memories. If she can crack Ruth, Kate could bolster her infant career in journalism. The trouble is, Ruth is old and lonely. Not only is she holding back to protect someone from the past, but also to prolong Kate’s treasured visits.
Kate reminds Ruth of the time she spent in England when she was in her twenties. Ruth tells Kate the story of her enmeshed life with Adele, James and Sam, around fifty years ago. Ruth’s best friend, Adele is exotic and exciting, James rich and famous, and Sam, James’s manager, must pry another successful album out of James. Throughout the story, two questions were burnt into my brain. What happened to James Bennet? Will Kate ever discover the truth?
The familiarity between the four from the past, as seen through Ruth’s eyes, was enjoyable to read. Everyone is pleasant, but a current of strain roils underneath. This steady build of tension twisted my gut a little more with each chapter. Even though Kate is frustrated with Ruth, she persists long after most would have given up. Will she earn Ruth’s trust and unveil the mystery of the past?
I resonated with Kate and Ruth, both their voices unique. Ruth, old and frail, but sharp, and Kate, young and determined, but inexperienced. Ruth has to push through the difficulties of growing older – illness, homecare, and the lack of zest in her life, but remains brave, positive and clever, with a slice of gumption thrown in. Kate’s tenacity is mellowed with kindness, even though her goal is to get to the truth.
It was interesting to follow the young, rich life of an old lady who, restricted by her body, is somewhat bored. Now in my mid-sixties, I appreciate how challenging life becomes as we age, but still have a story begging to be heard. We often cling to vivid memories of our youth to find momentary release from our current challenges.
Like Kate, I was urged forward by the knowledge that Ruth was holding back a thrilling secret. I would recommend this novel to women readers thirty plus who like their crime with a literary flair.
Publisher’s blurb
“The thing about friendships formed in childhood … is that they’re like an invisible tattoo. They mark you and mould you. They’re under your skin.”
When a last collection of songs by British musical icon, James Bennett, is discovered in an old Somerset house, rumours about his mysterious death during a wild midsummer party more than fifty years ago begin to swirl again. An accident? Suicide? Or murder?
The only person still alive who knows what happened is frail but indomitable Ruth Henderson. She now lives in a Sydney apartment, but back in 1972 she was staying in Somerset with her closest friend, Adela McMahon, who was married to James.
From very different backgrounds, Ruth and Adela became inseparable while growing up in an isolated New South Wales rural town. And they longed to escape. Adela fled first, to the bright lights and hectic whirl of swinging London, where she soon met James. But all was not as gilded as it seemed. Ruth was a witness to her beloved friend’s tempestuous and troubling relationship – and she was by Adela’s side the night James died.
Journalists are clamouring to hear Ruth’s story. Of them all, Ruth chooses young and ambitious Kate Griffin, who will do anything to boost her career. But as the past and the present begin to collide, an unexpected friendship grows between the two women and deciding what really matters proves life changing for them both.
Moving between contemporary Australia and England in 1972, and between the worlds of Ruth and Kate, this compelling and beautifully written novel is about secrets and confessions, about vulnerability and hidden strength, about the cruelty of betrayal and, most of all, about the inextinguishable power and joy of friendship.