Status
Available
Collection
Publication
Orbit (2020), Edition: 01, 448 pages
Description
South Africa in the 1880s. A young and naive English doctor by the name of William Abbey witnesses the lynching of a local boy by the white colonists. As the child dies, his mother curses William. William begins to understand what the curse means when the shadow of the dead boy starts following him across the world. It never stops, never rests. It can cross oceans and mountains. And if it catches him, the person he loves most in the world will die.
User reviews
LibraryThing member RandyMetcalfe
What is Truth? If you are Dr William Abbey that is a question that has a straightforward answer. Truth is what he sees in the hearts of other men and women when his cursed shadow, Langa, catches up to him. As Langa nears, Abbey is “gifted” with the ability to see the truth. When Langa is very
Although this novel begins as a supernatural horror story, it soon finds its way toward Claire North’s forte, the high-concept thriller. Dr Abbey nearly loses his mind when the curse is first placed on him. For whenever Langa catches up to him, instantly Abbey’s most loved-one perishes; it only takes two deaths to convince him that he needs to keep moving at all costs. That motivates some global adventuring which is only furthered when Dr Abbey falls into the clutches of the nineteen, a secretive organization that may be the nascent British Secret Service. In their hands, his curse becomes a substantial tool of international espionage. He may be a rather poor spy, but his information, whenever Langa is near enough for him to see accurately into the hearts of the men of power, is priceless.
A long history unfolds as Abbey relates how he came to know other truth-speakers and to learn more about the nature of his curse. And about what matters. Because truth, as it turns out, can be put to different uses. And it isn’t too long until Abbey begins to realize that the people handling him, or rather their superiors, are not to be trusted.
Claire North’s writing is always a treat. She has such a professional approach to her writing and a remarkable facility at moving her story along at pace. Here I thought the framing device of having Abbey tell his story to Ellis was a bit awkward, almost quaint, but at the same time I can see that it really adds a late 19th century style to the novel and possibly addresses one or two thorny questions that arise about how far we are meant to trust the narrator. That’s what makes the writing especially interesting. North has set herself a number of problems and the novel reveals how she works them out. Which makes this novel as easy to recommend as all her others.
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close, Abbey is also compelled to speak the truth and only the truth — he is, thus, one of the legendary truth-speakers. When we catch up to Abbey, he is at a field hospital in France during the first world war treating the wounded and waiting for something or someone. As he waits, he strikes up a conversational alliance with the young nurse Ellis and proceeds over a number of nights to tell her the long and involved history of his curse. Meanwhile, every day and night unceasingly, Langa approaches. He comes.Although this novel begins as a supernatural horror story, it soon finds its way toward Claire North’s forte, the high-concept thriller. Dr Abbey nearly loses his mind when the curse is first placed on him. For whenever Langa catches up to him, instantly Abbey’s most loved-one perishes; it only takes two deaths to convince him that he needs to keep moving at all costs. That motivates some global adventuring which is only furthered when Dr Abbey falls into the clutches of the nineteen, a secretive organization that may be the nascent British Secret Service. In their hands, his curse becomes a substantial tool of international espionage. He may be a rather poor spy, but his information, whenever Langa is near enough for him to see accurately into the hearts of the men of power, is priceless.
A long history unfolds as Abbey relates how he came to know other truth-speakers and to learn more about the nature of his curse. And about what matters. Because truth, as it turns out, can be put to different uses. And it isn’t too long until Abbey begins to realize that the people handling him, or rather their superiors, are not to be trusted.
Claire North’s writing is always a treat. She has such a professional approach to her writing and a remarkable facility at moving her story along at pace. Here I thought the framing device of having Abbey tell his story to Ellis was a bit awkward, almost quaint, but at the same time I can see that it really adds a late 19th century style to the novel and possibly addresses one or two thorny questions that arise about how far we are meant to trust the narrator. That’s what makes the writing especially interesting. North has set herself a number of problems and the novel reveals how she works them out. Which makes this novel as easy to recommend as all her others.
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LibraryThing member JJbooklvr
Claire North is one of those authors who immediately jumps to the top of my tbr pile. This one did not disappoint. Horror, Thriller, Romance with exquisite writing and an original plot. I could not have asked for more.
LibraryThing member mbmackay
Claire North remains my favourite new author, and I enjoyed this book, but I didn't think it was up to the standard of Harry August and Sudden Appearaqnce of Hope.
This novel, like the earlier books, hinges on a fantasy/supernatural twist: in this case, the hero is able to "read the truth in other
And the author is worth going along with! Claire North writes beautiful, flowing, lucid prose. It is a delight to read/devour.
But, to my quibbles on this particular book - I didn't find the prose to be as tight and spare as the earlier books. I also struggled with the device of the plot being told by one character to another. It didn't seem to add anything, and came to be cumbersome and clunky.
This novel, like the earlier books, hinges on a fantasy/supernatural twist: in this case, the hero is able to "read the truth in other
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peoples minds". I continue to be amazed that that such devices don't turn me away from the books, but the characters and the tales are so realistic in every other aspect, that the reader just goes along with the author.And the author is worth going along with! Claire North writes beautiful, flowing, lucid prose. It is a delight to read/devour.
But, to my quibbles on this particular book - I didn't find the prose to be as tight and spare as the earlier books. I also struggled with the device of the plot being told by one character to another. It didn't seem to add anything, and came to be cumbersome and clunky.
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LibraryThing member grandpahobo
Very intense and, at times. disturbing. The detail and dialog are quite impressive.
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
I got halfway through and just didn't care, so I gave up. In the early twentieth century, William Abbey is an Englishman who witnesses the brutal murder of a black boy in Africa and does nothing to stop it. He is cursed by the boy's mother, and the ghost of the boy follows Abbey wherever he goes,
The premise is interesting, but the book is long and just really didn't seem to be going anywhere, so I stopped reading.
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forcing him to see and utter the truth in people's hearts. If he travels quickly, the can stay away from the ghost, but if the ghost catches up, he slowly slips into insanity as he shouts out the truths of all the people around him. The British government forces him to spy for them.The premise is interesting, but the book is long and just really didn't seem to be going anywhere, so I stopped reading.
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LibraryThing member moosenoose
“I was cursed in Natal, in 1884. Cursed by the truth and by blood. The shadow took to me and we have been together since.”
Part sci-fi, part historical fiction, part thriller. Fully mind-blowing.
William Abbey stands by as a black boy, Langa, is savagely murdered by the ‘civilised’ white men
From here-on Abbey is chased around the globe as he attempts to keep a distance between himself and the unyielding shadow of Langa. Whilst on the run, Abbey learns that he is not the only person carrying this curse, and that those in great power would do absolutely anything to own a truth-speaker.
This was such an unusual read. It was complex and sometimes confusing, but extremely gripping.The author covers not just the British colonisation of South Africa and India, but also the discrimination against immigrants in America and the hatred spreading across Europe, all culminating in the front-line in France during the First World War.
At first, I found the slow pace a slight irritation, but soon realised that the pace matched that of Langa, relentlessly traveling over and through any terrain, never stopping, always moving. Some weeks after finishing the book, the story has stayed with me, frequently haunting my thoughts, a little like Langa in the pursuit of William Abbey.
Part sci-fi, part historical fiction, part thriller. Fully mind-blowing.
William Abbey stands by as a black boy, Langa, is savagely murdered by the ‘civilised’ white men
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during the British colonisation of South Africa. For his cowardice, Langa’s mother curses Abbey, who becomes a truth-speaker, endlessly pursued by Langa’s shadow. When Langa is near, Abbey is forced to reveal the truth hidden in the hearts of those in his vicinity. When Langa makes contact, someone Abbey loves is killed. From here-on Abbey is chased around the globe as he attempts to keep a distance between himself and the unyielding shadow of Langa. Whilst on the run, Abbey learns that he is not the only person carrying this curse, and that those in great power would do absolutely anything to own a truth-speaker.
This was such an unusual read. It was complex and sometimes confusing, but extremely gripping.The author covers not just the British colonisation of South Africa and India, but also the discrimination against immigrants in America and the hatred spreading across Europe, all culminating in the front-line in France during the First World War.
At first, I found the slow pace a slight irritation, but soon realised that the pace matched that of Langa, relentlessly traveling over and through any terrain, never stopping, always moving. Some weeks after finishing the book, the story has stayed with me, frequently haunting my thoughts, a little like Langa in the pursuit of William Abbey.
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LibraryThing member Sunyidean
Conflicting read
"And I knew at last what I had wanted to know since I had met her: that there was no such thing as simple as the storyteller’s love in her, that love was a tangled measure of a thousand different things, and that sometimes there was a word called love that she knew and understood,
Another beautifully written but structurally chaotic novel from Claire North. Of the books I have read so far, 15 Lives of Harry August was the best structured; the others (including William Abbey) have circled repetitively through the plot and had unfocused antagonists who never quite materialised any teeth.
It is well worth a read if you are a fan of contemporary spec fic with a literary edge, esp on the British scene, but maybe has more appeal to North fans than new readers.
"And I knew at last what I had wanted to know since I had met her: that there was no such thing as simple as the storyteller’s love in her, that love was a tangled measure of a thousand different things, and that sometimes there was a word called love that she knew and understood,
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and then sometimes it was gone, and she could not master it, and being unmastered, she longed to let it go, and then thinking of it, it came again."Another beautifully written but structurally chaotic novel from Claire North. Of the books I have read so far, 15 Lives of Harry August was the best structured; the others (including William Abbey) have circled repetitively through the plot and had unfocused antagonists who never quite materialised any teeth.
It is well worth a read if you are a fan of contemporary spec fic with a literary edge, esp on the British scene, but maybe has more appeal to North fans than new readers.
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Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019
Physical description
7.72 inches
ISBN
0356507440 / 9780356507446