Starred review from February 5, 2018
This impressive debut from Allnutt doggedly recounts a young family’s tragedy. Between programmer Rob Coates’s relentless optimism, his auditor wife Anna’s knack for order, and their son Jack’s joyful demeanor, their life in London is happy and full of love. But when a tumor is found in Jack’s brain, the bonds of the marriage are tested. After Jack is given a year to live, Rob becomes intrigued by an experimental treatment he learns about from an online forum. Though Anna isn’t interested in pursuing it, Rob goes behind her back while she is away and takes Jack to the clinic in Prague. But the questionable treatments administered to Jack only worsen his health. As his marriage crumbles, Rob becomes determined to atone for his mistake by making sure no one else is hurt by the bogus clinic. Rob’s experience as a father of a child stricken with cancer is punishing, marked by a desperate belief that a cure is just around the corner, frustration with well-meant and poorly delivered sympathy, and renewed appreciation for the smallest comfort and kindness. The resulting story is tender and raw, spun in pragmatic prose as personal as a friend’s heartfelt admissions, with turns as unexpected as life itself.
November 15, 2017
In this debut, a man struggles with the consequences of his son's devastating illness, downing alcohol and surveying the wreck of his marriage as he posts stunning scenes of places he and his son visited. With a 150,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2018
DEBUT When a child is gravely ill, the realization of what he or she might never experience--first date, high school graduation, first child--is put into stark relief in this emotional novel of love, loss, and hope. Rob and Anna Coates and their son Jack are a happy family until their lives are divided by a single day--"before" cancer diagnosis and "after." Rob and Anna, facing the devastating possibility that Jack might die, are crippled by their anticipation of the worst. Each parent copes differently. Anna is stoic but blames herself and believes that without Jack, there would be nowhere for her love to go. Rob drowns his worry but finally trades his vodka bottle for a camera, creating photographic essays of Jack's favorite places, giving visual voice to grief and fear. In the end, Rob and Anna learn that with love, there is always hope for the future. Allnut, who began this book after he was diagnosed with colon cancer, teaches us to cherish the simple things in life and that sometimes the only way to keep going is to share your story. VERDICT Readers who enjoy highly emotional journeys will appreciate this vivid and heart-twisting debut. [See Prepub Alert, 10/18/17.]--K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX
Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.