In a state of grief, Erica cuts off all ties to family and friends, and retreats to a quiet hamlet on the south-east coast near the prison where he is serving his sentence.

"The Labyrinth is a hypnotic story of guilt and denial, of the fraught relationship between parents and children, that is also a meditation on how art can both be ruthlessly destructive and restore sanity.

(Publication summary)[1] Linda Godfrey, in The Newtown Review of Books, noted: "The subtitle of the book is ‘a pastoral’, indicating that Erica is moving to the country to seek a simpler life.

Though we don't know what her recent life in the city was like, she carries with her a history that she hopes to assuage by living in a small town, close to nature, and building her labyrinth.

"[8] In The Guardian, Jen Webb wrote: "A labyrinth is a powerful trope, and here it drives not only the narrative and Erica herself, but also a range of possibilities of meaning for the various characters with whom her life becomes intertwined.