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| This book has also been published as "Where the Moon Isn't" |
While on vacation with their parents, Matthew Homes and his older brother sneak out in the middle of the night. Only Matthew comes home safely. Ten years later, Matthew tells us, he has found a way to bring his brother back...
What begins as the story of a lost boy turns into a story of a brave man yearning to understand what happened that night, in the years since, and to his very person. Unafraid to look at the shadows of our hearts, Nathan Filer's rare and brilliant debut The Shock of the Fall shows us the strength that is rooted in resilience and love.
“Mental illness turns people inwards. That's what I reckon. It keeps up forever trapped by the pain of our own minds, in the same way that the pain of a broken leg or a cut thumb will grab your attention, holding it so tightly that your good leg or your good thumb seem to cease to exist.”
***
Worse than all of that is how I have become selfish.”
***
“That was sort of our family portrait. It's not the kind of thing you
think you would miss. Maybe you don't even notice it at all those
thousands of times, sitting between your mum and dad on the big green
couch with your brother on the carpet getting in the way of the telly.
Maybe you don't even notice that.
But you notice it when he isn't there anymore. You notice so many places where he isn't, and you hear so many of the things he doesn't say.
I do.
I hear them all the time.”
But you notice it when he isn't there anymore. You notice so many places where he isn't, and you hear so many of the things he doesn't say.
I do.
I hear them all the time.”
Jackie says:
"Anybody who liked/loved The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time should grab a copy of The Shock of the Fall
by Nathan Filer, his very first novel. He's already exceeded
expectations, gaining high praise from reviewers and readers alike.
At the innocent age of 6 years old, Matthew, who already has mental problems enough, witnesses his older brother, who has Down Syndrome and several other physical problems, die. Matt gives himself the blame, which pushes his mental problems into full-blown schizophrenia. The story concerns the first decade after his brother's death and Matt's fierce fight (with himself and others) to figure things out and still come out alive.
I could not put this book down. Filer has found a somewhat avant-garde way of writing fiction that takes awhile to get used to, but it surely draws you into the story. I highly recommend this excellent debut."
At the innocent age of 6 years old, Matthew, who already has mental problems enough, witnesses his older brother, who has Down Syndrome and several other physical problems, die. Matt gives himself the blame, which pushes his mental problems into full-blown schizophrenia. The story concerns the first decade after his brother's death and Matt's fierce fight (with himself and others) to figure things out and still come out alive.
I could not put this book down. Filer has found a somewhat avant-garde way of writing fiction that takes awhile to get used to, but it surely draws you into the story. I highly recommend this excellent debut."
Nathan Filer -Yesterday Unknown, Today Costa Book Of The Year Winner!--click here to a conversation about the book HERE.
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