FITTING THE PIECES TOGETHER
1920s Britain: Flo is forced raise her baby son Tom as a single parent when her husband walks out on the family. She works hard to give the boy a stable, loving home and the pair enjoy a close relationship. Tragically, Tom is killed in 1944 during a military campaign in Holland and Flo must carry on without him.
As the years go by the life Tom led when he was away from home connects itself to his mother’s. Is this Tom’s way of reaching out to Flo from beyond the grave, or is it all in her imagination? Fragments of Tom, by British author Jeff Wallder, uses the paranormal to explore the impact of death on the living. Flo’s belief that Tom is alive, albeit in an abstract form, is deeply touching and it’s difficult not to be moved by the rituals she maintains to keep him close.
This is Wallder’s first book and unfortunately his inexperience as a writer does show! Structurally, the prologue doesn’t sit well in the narrative (it’s repeated word for word further into the story), and while the novel is well researched, Wallder wastes valuable sentences explaining points that are neither relevant or useful (does anyone really care about war time pensions and how miserly they are by today’s standards?).
Overall, Fragments of Tom is not a bad effort. It is an ambitious, sensitively written story that bravely explores the issues around mourning and the struggle to find emotional closure, something that most of us will experience in our lifetime.
Reviewed by Juliette Foster
© Archant Community Media Limited used under limited licence
