After starting over my novel from scratch and jumping back into some serious plotting, it has recently occurred to me that an unreliable narrator would best fit my story (a historical thriller set in the late Victorian era).
The story is a first-person narrative told by an orphaned young woman in her mid to late teens. My goal is to present her to the reader as a sympathetic character utterly innocent of any foul play (accidents, theft, fire, etc.) until the climax when she is revealed to have played a hand in most or if not all of the sinister events of the story. Her motivations are money (in this case, her inheritance) and the contempt she has for her well-to-do cousin.
Excepting certain tropes of the Gothic genre, I am trying to work out the best way to avoid clichés and maintain suspense. I would really appreciate some advice on unreliable narrators and what pitfalls to watch out for.
I agree with, Louise.
Do not spring a surprise on the reader that has not in some way been referred to earlier in the novel. An example in a 'WhoDunnit' would be saying the Butler did it, when there are no vague clues to his guilt in any of the chapters. You win, but you will have cheated the reader.
Drip feed information about your protagonists psychology by having him/her, or other characters reveal clues about their persona. Little seeds that deepen the mystery without spilling the beans. Then the reader will have forewarned before all is revealed by the end of the novel.
Alice and Louise, thank you for your book suggestions. I have so much reading to get through (don’t we all!) but these are all great examples that I will check out as soon as I can.
As for your questions, I am leaning towards making my protagonist a liar by omission in that she will not report facts to the reader exactly as they occur; as though she is not even entirely sure herself whether she is directly responsible for the events occurring around her.
In doing so, I am hoping to use her apparent plight to have the reader take her side and dislike/suspect several other characters, only for the reader to realise toward the end (3/4 mark?) that she is not all that innocent after all. The reason for her lying comes down to her age and most importantly, the anger and grief that she keeps bottled up following her being orphaned and taken away to be raised by her privileged relatives.
I’m still not 100% certain on the ending. Will she mend her ways in the end (namely her cousin) when she realises there are more important things than money (i.e. family, love, etc.) or will she go through with her plans no matter the consequences? (steal her cousin’s fiancé and inheritance out of spite, etc.?)
What do you hope to achieve by making your heroine an unreliable narrator? Do you, perhaps, want to emphasise to readers that she doesn't fully know her own heart/mind/desires? Or perhaps do you want her to conceal some inherent part of the story?
Stevens, the butler, in The Remains of the Day is a good example of the former. He's someone who was unable to be entirely honest with himself about his feelings (for someone else). If you haven't already read it, it's worth doing so. It's exceptionally well crafted - and a good read besides.
Concealing information only to reveal it later, like a rabbit from a top hat, is, I think, even harder to pull off. Readers don't like surprises sprung on them; the clues as to what is eventually going to be revealed need to be scattered throughout the text. I agree that Agatha Christie was a master of this. James Joyce's Ulysses also does this; it's done more in the context of pulling a joke on the reader, which is perhaps even harder to achieve (although. Joyce, of course, does).
It might also be worth looking at Scout in To Kill A Mocking Bird. Younger than your protagonist but might still give you some useful ideas as to how children/young people can miss things due their innocence. In some respects, because of that, I think it's a bit easier to have an unreliable narrator who's a child than an adult so I think you're giving yourself the best start!