'Lost Children'
by Christopher Hart
Our ‘nest of novels’ category at Beatons is deliberately small,
its titles sparkling jewels within their genre. This new addition – by our most
recent Beatons Tisbury author Christopher Hart – was described in a recent review
in The Sunday Times as ‘edgy and totally
gripping… feels appallingly authentic.’ It’s like a black pearl, dark
with an irresistible lustre and a cracker of a story!
To tell anything of the story-line would deprive you of its gritty blood – as red as the soil of the village which indelibly stains the heart of
Dr Nicholas, one of the novel’s two protagonists. Yet with immense delicacy
Chris Hart drips moments of innocence and even tenderness as we follow its
other heroine - a child - through a poisoned paradise somewhere unspecified in
Central America.
I have never made a prediction about a book. Here’s my
first…
This will one day be a
blockbuster film. If it hasn’t been snapped
up yet and you have the contacts, send them to ‘Lost Children’. In the meantime, for our readers, here’s the
deal. You'll need a strong stomach and heart, and to be ready for a visceral ride
into an unknown land of nightmares, its skies peppered by stars of humanity
(most of them children) and earth by indifference and tyranny.
Parents, give this to every teenager contemplating a gap
year travelling. It will tell you something of their mettle if they still pack
up and go. Don’t blame them if they stay at home or change their
itinerary! I’m not going to pretend this
book didn’t make me squirm in places, but its finely drawn characters and plot
had me read it in two sittings. Would make a great Christmas present for any
frequent or retired travel-lovers who want transporting out of their comfy chairs
into a totally believable landscape ravaged by greed and corruption.
Liz Darcy Jones
Book Ambassador