Life: An exploded diagram by Mal Peet
Walker Books, 2011. ISBN: 9781844281008.
(Age: 16 +) Highly recommended. Whilst this novel provides an
amazing reading experience, it is certainly unlike most YA fiction,
in structure, in focus and in narrative voice. The novel opens with
an almost comical bombing in a country English village during World
War 2. And if this is an unconventional YA setting so too is the
narrative voice, which deftly (and frequently) changes from third to
first person. Sometimes we learn of events from the past as they
unfold and sometimes we look at them through the lens of the now
grown-up Clem, who lives in New York, many miles away from his rural
English roots and that bombing raid which heralded his birth.
The first third of the novel actually explores the lives of Clem's
parents (again, an unusual focus for a YA novel) but when Clem
reaches puberty, the spotlight once again falls upon him. As a
teenager, Clem (a working class, scholarship boy) falls in love with
the wild but beautiful Frankie, daughter of the local landlord.
Their love slowly blossoms, until the looming threat of the Cuban
missile crisis impels their relationship forward with dramatic and
unexpected consequences. Gradually, the true meaning of the novel's
title becomes clear, as Clem's life is quite literally shaped by
explosive events.
A story which began in wartime England and developed under a nuclear
cloud ends, shockingly and poignantly, in the modern world of
terrorism. Adult readers, who remember the Cuban crisis and D.H.
Lawrence novels, are sure to fall in love with this book for the
political intrigue, the rural setting and the stinging irony that
enmeshes the story. Indeed, some may consider this to be an adult
novel for it makes no concession to teen readers, with its ambling
pace and switching narrative voice. But this is exactly why
teenagers should be encouraged to read this brilliant book; apart
from the sheer mastery with which the story is written, they will be
well rewarded with thought provoking ideas about war, love and life.
Highly recommended.
Deborah Marshall