A Trick of the Dark | TheBookSeekers

A Trick of the Dark


No. of pages 320

Published: 2010

Great for age 12-18 years

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Zach and his sister Annis have been uprooted by their parents from their comfortable home to a remote and half-built barn in France. Zach is being removed from his 'bad-influence' friends, their parents are trying to salvage their marriage and still remain on speaking terms whilst the bitterness of their father's affair bubbles underneath the surface. And Annis - Annis just keeps going, keeping her head down, trying to keep it together. So far so normal. And then Zach, uncommunicative and contrary as ever these days, defies everything their parents have said and makes his way to the unsafe ruined building at the edge of their new garden, and leans up against the wall. The wall bulges, totters - and suddenly collapses on top of him. Annis, horrified, sees him crumpled on the ground. Desperate, she races towards him, not daring to think anything at all. She sees him, on the ground, broken, silent, not there any more. And then, unbelievably, he moves. Zach moves. Zach, in an extraordinary and instinctive decision, has broken his bond with his own soul, the essence of himself. By doing so he has cheated death. By doing so he has also cheated life. He is unable to touch any human person again. And the essence of himself, his 'other', his soul, is chasing him, determined to rejoin what should rightfully be together. Zach is on the run, from himself, whom he can never escape, from death, but also from the life that he can never enjoy again. Perhaps only a sister can help him now.

 

 

This book has been graded for interest at 12-18 years.

There are 320 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2010 by Bloomsbury Publishing PLC .

Bridget Collins is a graduate of both university and drama school. This is her first novel. Bridget lives in Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

 

'A multilayered, metaphysical thriller ... dark, uneasy and extraordinary' Nicolette Jones, The Times 'Collins is a brave and ambitious writer ... She tests the lexicons of darkness and light to their limits and beyond. Reading 'A Trick of the Dark' is like watching a tightrope-walker feeling her way to the far stanchion. And she gets there' Guardian Praise for The Traitor Game: 'A wonderfully gripping book for teenagers ... Brain food that's well worth feeding to your teenage boys - and stealing from them afterwards' Big Issue 'A beautifully constructed debut novel with a twin narrative that cleverly plays with prejudices' Sunday Telegraph