I am delighted to be taking part in the Orenda Books blog tour for Fall by West Camel. I also have a great giveaway with the chance to win a print copy. Details on how to enter are at the foot of this post.
Estranged brothers are reunited over plans to develop the tower block
where they grew up, but the desolate estate becomes a stage for
reliving the events of one life-changing summer, forty years earlier.
Twins Aaron and Clive have been estranged for forty years. Aaron still
lives in the empty, crumbling tower block on the riverside in Deptford
where they grew up. Clive is a successful property developer, determined
to turn the tower into luxury flats.
But Aaron is blocking the
plan and their petty squabble becomes something much greater when two
ghosts from the past – twins Annette and Christine – appear in the
tower. At once, the desolate estate becomes a stage on which the events
of one scorching summer are relived – a summer that shattered their
lives, and changed everything forever…
Grim, evocative and exquisitely rendered, Fall is
a story of friendship and family – of perception, fear and prejudice,
the events that punctuate our journeys into adulthood, and the indelible
scars they leave – a triumph of a novel that will affect you long after
the final page has been turned.
My Thoughts This tells the story of two brothers, twins, who have become estranged. The emotional distance between them is symbolised by the two tower blocks which they live in. In sight of each other, but standing far apart, with battlelines drawn. This story of a family rift spans forty years and slowly reveals the reason for the breakdown in their relationship. One brother, Aaron, is the last inhabitant of the once ground breaking estate which his mother designed. Clive, a successful businessman, sits in his modern tower block and plots the demolition and development of the site.Their mother's vision for the estate is fascinating. She seemed to control all the lives of the inhabitants by seeking to make it self-sufficient. Beneath the surface is a warren of hidden passageways and secret rooms, some of which lead underground elsewhere.
There are several layers to the story, with several mysteries to uncover and hidden relationships. Unconscious prejudice is highlighted and a bending of the truth and hiding from reality. It makes for a mesmerising story with tension, fear, regret and avoidance at its heart. I was also struck by the distinctive voice of the author with some interesting stylistic devices and use of tense. This is novel with complex characters and memorable moments which bring you up short and stay in your mind after you have closed the book.
In short: beautifully written
About the Author
Born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village
with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher
education and business before turning his attention to the arts and
publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at
Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology,
before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He
currently combines his work as editorial director at Orenda with editing The
Riveter magazine and #RivetingReviews for the European Literature Network.
He has also written several short scripts, which have been
produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old
Vic’s 12 playwrights project. His debut novel, Attend was published in 2018, and
was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and longlisted for the
Waverton Good Read Award. His second novel, Fall will be published in December
2021.
Book links:
Thanks to West Camel, Karen Sullivan of Orenda Books and Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.
Do check out these brilliant bloggers!
Giveaway (UK only)
To win a print copy of Fall, just Follow and Retweet the pinned tweet at @bookslifethings and good luck!
Closing date is 22nd December 2021 and there is one winner.
*Terms and Conditions – UK only. The winner will be selected at
random via Tweetdraw from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter
and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right
to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the
competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with
third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed
to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize. I am not
responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.
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Thanks so much for the blog tour support xx
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