This may be a first novel by US author Daniel Lowe but he is an experienced writer and it shows in this engrossing tale about a father kidnapped in Pakistan.
Marc is restrained in his captivity and prevented from seeing his interrogator, Josephine. At first her inquiries are about who might pay a ransom for him but then she wants to know why he didn’t go home for his daughter Claire’s funeral after her killing in the US.
Our journey winds out from there into a maze of narratives involving characters who may or may not exist.
Does it matter any more? We never know or see more than hostage Marc and Josephine as they tell tales of Claire as she was, is, or might have been in a different future, in their different minds.
While the premise may seem potentially hard on the emotions and imaginative capabilities, it is not a difficult read. The power of the book lies in Lowe’s ability to reveal profound events in a calm and straightforward narrative.
Marc’s blindfold helps him imagine what he’s told and remembers ever more clearly, an effect reflected in our engrossing experience.
It is a seductive tale that stays with you, leading us to examine how we make sense of ourselves through our relationships with those most important to us and how we may reckon with them when a life ends.
