Fiction, World Literature, Fiction Subjects, Peoples & Cultures - Fiction

In the Half Light

Name: In the Half Light
Author: Anthony Lawrence
ISBN: 9780786712304

by Anthony Lawrence

Write a review

Overview

With quiet optimism and a haunting poignancy, the award-winning poet Anthony Lawrence's first novel explores the strange, sometimes marvelous, and entirely disorienting world of James Molloy. For however unexceptional James—an average student, a dutiful son—may appear to outsiders, he knows that he is different. He has visions, and in their eerie halflight two realities—the one that he lives in and the one that lives in him—collide, intermingle, coalesce. Sometimes out of the vibrant confusion inside his head come voices that glide from his mind into his mouth. Vision finds a language of its own. Alone, isolated by his difference, James faces a future without close companionship until the day that he meets Stephanie Riley, a sympathetic guide who leads him to unexpected truths, and then disappears. Driven to learn what lies at the center of his curious universe, James begins a heartrending journey that takes him from a tragic romantic interlude in rural Australia to the west coast of Ireland. There, even as he enters the emotionally turbulent world of Sarah Carmichael, a talented, hard-drinking fiddle player, James emerges into the clarity of self-awareness. And discovers at last the possibilities that lie in friendship, art, love, tomorrow.

Synopsis

With quiet optimism and a haunting poignancy, the award-winning poet Anthony Lawrence’s first novel explores the strange, sometimes marvelous, and entirely disorienting world of James Molloy. For however unexceptional James—an average student, a dutiful son—may appear to outsiders, he knows that he is different. He has visions, and in their eerie halflight two realities—the one that he lives in and the one that lives in him—collide, intermingle, coalesce. Sometimes out of the vibrant confusion inside his head come voices that glide from his mind into his mouth. Vision finds a language of its own. Alone, isolated by his difference, James faces a future without close companionship until the day that he meets Stephanie Riley, a sympathetic guide who leads him to unexpected truths, and then disappears. Driven to learn what lies at the center of his curious universe, James begins a heartrending journey that takes him from a tragic romantic interlude in rural Australia to the west coast of Ireland. There, even as he enters the emotionally turbulent world of Sarah Carmichael, a talented, hard-drinking fiddle player, James emerges into the clarity of self-awareness. And discovers at last the possibilities that lie in friendship, art, love, tomorrow.

Publishers Weekly

Already published overseas to widespread acclaim, this novel by prolific Australian poet Lawrence is an intensive, haunting coming-of-age tale centering on a boy's struggle with schizophrenia in Sydney. Fragile James Molloy, the story's narrator, is a tortured teenager who immediately acknowledges that he was a very strange child, since in frequent out-of-body incidents he saw headlights and heard bells and voices that spoke words seemingly held together by strings and hooks of light. As James matures, his gift becomes a burden as the fainting spells (now accompanied by incoherent speech) begin to frighten those around him. His first foray into romance is with a shop girl named Stephanie, also diagnosed as schizophrenic, and while she befriends James and he grows to love her, she soon disappears. James's parents, struggling to hold together a failing marriage, take him to several doctors for psychoanalysis. When prescribed medication alleviates the headlights, James hitchhikes into the bush, where he meets Colin, a strange loner living in a mountain cabin. A homecoming of tears and tea and cake resumes James's mostly unhappy life, compounded by the separation of his parents and a new relationship that ends tragically. Inspired by a book about Ireland left for him by Stephanie, James sets off for the faraway island, where pub life and a new fiddler friend named Sarah give him fresh reason to live and some sense of normalcy. The author presents a helpless, mentally unstable protagonist with enough dark baggage to sink a battleship, but thanks to Lawrence's poetic prose and steady pacing, his narration shines, making this unusual story enlightening and thought provoking. (June) Forecast: As yet unknown in the U.S., Lawrence will likely be warmly received by reviewers, though it may take him a few more books to build up name recognition among readers. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

About the Author, Anthony Lawrence

Anthony Lawrence, a native of New South Wales, Australia, has worked as a stockman, truck driver, and teacher of English and drama. He is the author of six books of poetry that have won many awards, and currently lives in Hobart, Tasmania.

Reviews

There are no reviews yet. Log in to write one.

Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
In his lucid and vibrant first novel, Australian poet Anthony Lawrence brings readers into the life and mind of James Malloy, a young poet suffering with schizophrenia. But before James realizes his gift for poetry, the jumbled words surging through his mind serve only as a mystery and a nuisance, making his world a confining tangle of lights, sounds, poetic mutterings, and fears.

When James meets Stephanie, a local shopgirl, he finds a woman with nerves as raw as his own. She is the first to recognize both his disorder and his poetic affinity, and she gently encourages him to explore his condition through journaling and seeking help. But his relationship with Stephanie is brief, and James is left to finish his project of self-discovery alone.

James's "illness" takes its toll on his family, straining already tense relationships. But James experiences some of the most carefree, stable days of his life in the company of Tina, a girl from a farm in rural Australia; this affair, however, is also cut tragically short.

After an unmemorable stint in a mental hospital, James leaves Australia and travels to Ireland, where he finds a group of understanding friends and discovers Sarah, a fiery musician whose wounded soul is quickly bound to his. For James's struggle is not so much one of overcoming schizophrenia but of facing his fears of the unknown: hurting others, love and loss, and change. Only when he is able to confront his fears openly and honestly is he finally able to accept himself and find happiness. A noteworthy fiction debut by a talent from Down Under. (Summer 2002 Selection)

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

This debut novel by a celebrated Tasmanian poet follows the early life of James Molloy, a New South Wales boy who hears voices and sees colors inside his head. James is not initially aware of his difference from other children, though his behavior raises concerns in school. Not until he is in high school and meets Stephanie, who is also schizophrenic, does he learn about his illness and the role medication can play in managing its manifestations. After Stephanie moves to Ireland and his parents divorce, James's world changes. Unfortunately, so does the book, which loses its initial focus on schizophrenia and becomes more of a coming-of-age story. James moves to Sydney and falls in love with a girl named Tina. When she is killed in an accident, he proceeds to Ireland in the hopes of finding Stephanie. There, he befriends a group of musicians and falls in love with a troubled alcoholic fiddle player. Although the characters in the initial chapters are convincing, much of what unfolds in Ireland is less engaging, and too many loose ends make for a dissatisfying conclusion. Not required for most collections. David A. Beron , Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

The New York Times Book Review

Not surprisingly, Lawrence brings the eye and ear that produced six volumes of poetry to this account of James' journey to self-awareness and artistic fulfillment. Savoring the novel's evocative language and imagery, one often longs to hear passages read aloud. What is significant here is sensibility rather than plotting, and that contributes to the novel's memoirish feel.... James' perspective is so convincingly rendered that one is encouraged when the final page offers an optimistic echo of the first. Katharine Weber

Kirkus Reviews

Australian poet Lawrence perceptively details a young schizophrenic's struggle to live and love normally. Narrator James Molloy lives with his family near Sydney. It's a close and loving clan, but from early childhood on James is increasingly aware of disturbances in his head. He sees gold circles and hears strange noises. He's an indifferent student who gets into trouble for talking to himself and letting his imagination run wild: ". . . words appeared, held together by strings and hooks of light." In his senior year of high school, instructed by his voices, he skips out and heads to Sydney. There, he meets Stephanie, a slightly older woman who also hears voices and talks about moving to Ireland, where her father died. When the two meet again, Stephanie tells James that she's been diagnosed as schizophrenic and suggests that he too needs help. His parents, especially his father, are at first reluctant to accept that James is mentally ill, and the young man himself is determined to make a life as a poet. His struggle to do so is movingly and persuasively detailed with perfectly pitched emotion. Feeling better after he's put on medication, James meets Tina in her father's bookstore and falls in love. But when she's killed in an accident, he finds himself falling through the hole that had once only opened on his bed but now is everywhere. His pills don't help, and James is hospitalized for three years. Emerging as healed as he'll ever be, he knows that with daily medication he is " bound to the earth by a synthetic dependency, but on the earth nevertheless." James then heads to Ireland to find Stephanie, but instead-in an overlong, overdrawn, and unconvincing interlude-meets singer Sarah, the third young woman who will drastically change his life. The initially engaging story loses momentum two thirds through, but this is still a debut of great promise.