The Returners by Gemma Malley
Jun. 26th, 2010 01:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
A past life doesn’t mean a good one
Will Hodge’s life is a mess! His mother is dead, he has no friends and he is being followed by a strange group of people who tell him they know him. But Will can’t remember them ... at first. And when he does, he doesn’t like what he knows.
While Will is struggling with unsettling memories, he learns that his past is a lot deeper than many people’s. Is he strong enough to break links with the powerful hold that history has on him?
Set in 2016, Will Hodge is a troubled teenage boy who has never really come to terms with his mother’s suicide – an event that took place in front of him. He lives with his bitter father who never got over losing his job as a high flying lawyer and is now reduced to public prosecution work. His father blames immigrants for taking people’s jobs, he’s closely involved with an anti-immigrant political party that’s rapidly rising in public popularity.
When Will finds himself having strange dreams – memories of things he can’t possibly have seen – and then finds himself being followed by strange people, he thinks that his life can’t get any worse. But when he finally speaks to them, it does. It turns out that he is a Returner – a person who has lived through many past lives and who plays a pivotal part in key events in history.
While he’s trying to come to terms with this he sees Yan, the son of Will’s immigrant neighbours, standing in the street over the body of a stabbed man. Yan is charged with murder and Will’s former friend Clare (a girl who he has feelings for) wants his help to clear Yan’s name. Things are coming to a head when Will makes an explosive discovery about the expectations placed on him. Can he break the link with his destiny and does he even want to?
Gemma Malloy has created an interesting tale that weaves past lives in with questions about the inevitability of key historic events and the rise of anti-immigration politics. Will is a credible character – riddled with insecurities, an outsider and loner who’s battered by the will and bitter politics of his father. It would have been interesting to see more of his relationship with both Clare and Yan, given that both are so important to key aspects of his story. More could also have been made of his relationship with the other Returners, who come across as a plot device more as characters in their own right.
It’s an interesting novel that’s part morality tale and part warning about racial politics and although there are flaws in it, it’s worth taking a look at.
The Verdict:
Although this is a flawed novel, there are interesting ideas at play here and I liked the way it integrates current racial politics with past historical events. For that alone it’s worth checking out.
THE RETURNERS was published in the United Kingdom in April. Thanks to Bloomsbury for the ARC.
Will Hodge’s life is a mess! His mother is dead, he has no friends and he is being followed by a strange group of people who tell him they know him. But Will can’t remember them ... at first. And when he does, he doesn’t like what he knows.
While Will is struggling with unsettling memories, he learns that his past is a lot deeper than many people’s. Is he strong enough to break links with the powerful hold that history has on him?
Set in 2016, Will Hodge is a troubled teenage boy who has never really come to terms with his mother’s suicide – an event that took place in front of him. He lives with his bitter father who never got over losing his job as a high flying lawyer and is now reduced to public prosecution work. His father blames immigrants for taking people’s jobs, he’s closely involved with an anti-immigrant political party that’s rapidly rising in public popularity.
When Will finds himself having strange dreams – memories of things he can’t possibly have seen – and then finds himself being followed by strange people, he thinks that his life can’t get any worse. But when he finally speaks to them, it does. It turns out that he is a Returner – a person who has lived through many past lives and who plays a pivotal part in key events in history.
While he’s trying to come to terms with this he sees Yan, the son of Will’s immigrant neighbours, standing in the street over the body of a stabbed man. Yan is charged with murder and Will’s former friend Clare (a girl who he has feelings for) wants his help to clear Yan’s name. Things are coming to a head when Will makes an explosive discovery about the expectations placed on him. Can he break the link with his destiny and does he even want to?
Gemma Malloy has created an interesting tale that weaves past lives in with questions about the inevitability of key historic events and the rise of anti-immigration politics. Will is a credible character – riddled with insecurities, an outsider and loner who’s battered by the will and bitter politics of his father. It would have been interesting to see more of his relationship with both Clare and Yan, given that both are so important to key aspects of his story. More could also have been made of his relationship with the other Returners, who come across as a plot device more as characters in their own right.
It’s an interesting novel that’s part morality tale and part warning about racial politics and although there are flaws in it, it’s worth taking a look at.
The Verdict:
Although this is a flawed novel, there are interesting ideas at play here and I liked the way it integrates current racial politics with past historical events. For that alone it’s worth checking out.
THE RETURNERS was published in the United Kingdom in April. Thanks to Bloomsbury for the ARC.
