In her engaging review essay 'Fantastical Doubles and Split Selves' in the latest issue of New Welsh Review, author of The Word, JL George, looks at responses to trauma in three recent novels including Fox Bites by Lloyd Markham. Here are three of our favourite snippets:
‘Lloyd Markham’s first full-length novel Fox Bites, set in early-2000s Zimbabwe, takes a similar tack, colliding social upheaval – as viewed through the sometimes-uncomprehending eyes of a young, neurodivergent boy – with smaller, more personal disruptions. The young protagonist, Taban, suffers bullying and isolation among his peers after his family splits apart: his aunt, uncle, and beloved cousin Caleb moving away to a farm which will later be seized during land reforms.’
‘Taban must resist the temptation to become part of a cycle of abuse, thereby becoming a conduit for the destruction of his world. Although the stakes of the book eventually become world-threatening in the expected way of science fiction and fantasy, the story never tips over into rote spectacle: it remains grounded in personal relationships, keeping the story emotionally compelling.’
‘The dark double here provides a cautionary tale – and also a way of depicting political events through the eyes of a child who is unable to affect or fully comprehend them, but must still live in the world they create. Though qualified and realistic, the novel’s ending allows a note of hope which stands out all the more brightly for the darkness against which it is shown. Like the other two books discussed here, Markham’s novel makes inventive use of a well-worn literary motif, using it to consider the workings of power from a perspective not often seen in fiction from Wales. It deserves to be read far more widely.’
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