Synopsis
The story of a traumatised teenager’s slow recovery
from the devastating car accident which left him severely
injured and killed his father. It follows the ‘stream
of consciousness’ of Troy, suffering from post-traumatic
amnesia, his struggle to remember bound up with his
gradual realisation and acceptance of his father’s
death. In Troy’s often dream-like state, he returns
in his imagination to the world of myth and legend –
sometimes experiencing life as Wiglaf, a boy from Saxon
times, who befriends and listens to the Bard telling
the story of Beowulf and the beast, Grendel. These characters,
so central to his view of his father, become merged
with the present narrative of his recovery and his eventual
acceptance of his father’s death.
Cross-curricular links and themes
- History
– the Beowulf story, life in Saxon times,
local history and folklore.
- Citizenship
and PSHE –
bereavement, loss and family break-up.
- Themes –
the nature of storytelling and local tradition;
heroes and monsters; loss and bereavement; the nature
of grief and memory; the family.
| ISBN
0 340 89988 3 £6.99
January 2005 192pp |
|
