Hell's Gate

Loved the book. Dante crossed with horror.

Lots of twists and turns. Quite a disturbing read.

I enjoyed the book but couldn't understand why dad went through everything and the son quite happily returned leaving dad in hell .

I could not put this book down but it was an uneasy confusing read and I couldn't take an ending from it.

Really didn't like this book . Didn't understand it and couldn't sleep after reading it ! Sorry made me quite depressed!

Shelf Readers Group

Enjoyed by most members of the group. Style of writing was concise and easy to absorb. A story of grief, revenge, loss, love and redemption. The world of the Underworld was written with great creation and imagination. Compelling.
Where did the ideas for the Underworld come from and would you want to bring someone back from the dead and the consequences this would entail.
Why was this bizarre tale set In Italy?

Discussion of “Hell’s Gate” by Lauren Gaude

• It was great I loved it. It drew heavily upon classic Greek mythology such as Orpheus and Eurydice. There was the River Styx but no Charon to steer you across. There was a lot of sadness but a redemptive ending. I read it in 2 days.
• Peter liked it – and it’s the first book he has! It dragged me in up until the point when the mum left – then I had to stop for a while because it was so sad. Everything was very real and could have occurred up until that point.
• Pippo grown up – I thought it was still the father and he had taken on the embodiment of the son.
• I loved the characters. They were wonderfully flawed people ‘despicable’ people who cared and were caring
• I read it in one day! What made me sad was that there was no heaven. There was a shining light at the end – did they go to heaven or into nothingness?
• The stillborn babies and unborn babies was a very disturbing picture.
• It was too sombre for me. The mother put the father under lots of pressure. She seemed like an Italian gangster herself. Her grief changed her. She even changed her name – giving up and erasing her married life.
• I enjoyed the first half. I didn’t like the bit about Hell – it seemed very derivative to me. It turned into a very bad Sci Fi or Dr Who episode at this point. It lost all the power that the first half had given it. Started well and went ‘down hill’
• I had a completely different take on the story – I thought that the parents’ lives had been completely torn apart, that the father did die and in his mind went to Hell. As that was where he thought he should be..
• I found the church and cafe bit unbelievable. I even wondered if there was a special coffee combination that had killed the father.
• Seriously enjoyed it and read it twice. Loved the use of tenses. It was very short
• Is the brevity of the novel a consequence of the author being first and foremost a playwright?
• It would make a good French film
• It was well translated
• Are they all dead?? And what was the meaning of the city in Hell?