In the Half Light

by Anthony Lawrence

To outsiders, James Molloy is nothing exceptional: an average student, perhaps quieter than most, sometimes in trouble, much loved by his parents. But James knows that he is different. He has visions, and in their eerie half light two worlds - the one that he lives in and the one that lives in him-collide, intermingle, coalesce. And sometimes out of the vibrant and amazing 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, Stephanie extends to him the encouragement of an initiate as she leads him to unexpected truths and possibilities. Driven to explore the half light of his life, to find out what lies at the center of his curious universe, James begins a heart-rending journey that takes him from rural Australia, where he falls in love with, then tragically loses, the sweetly spirited Tina to the west coast of Ireland and the emotionally turbulent world of Sarah Carmichael, the hard-drinking, brittle, talented, and vulnerable fiddle-player in a band called Lapwing.

Artfully conceived and beautifully realized, Anthony Lawrence's debut novel charts a young man's arduous struggle with his artistic imagination and long battle with schizophrenia as well as his emergence from a headful of secrets into the clarity of self-awareness. With quiet optimism and a haunting poignancy it demonstrates that all things - friendship, art, love, tomorrow - become possible once when we learn to
trust our fear.

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.

Genres: Fiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Anthony Lawrence


Anthony Lawrence was born in 1957 in Tamworth, New South Wales, and is one of Australia's most highly-regarded poets. His books and individual poems have won many of Australia's most prestigious awards, including the Judith Wright Calanthe Award (Queensland Premier's Poetry Prize), the Harri Jones Memorial Award and the Gwen Harwood Memorial Prize. He is also the recipient of a Senior Fellowship from the Australia Council, one of the most prestigious funding awards a writer can be accorded in Australia.

His published volumes of poetry comprise: Dreaming in Stone (1989), Ultramarine (1991), Three Days Out of Tidal Town (1992), The Darkwood Aquarium (1993), Cold Wires of Rain (1995), The Viewfinder (1996), New and Selected Poems (incorporating new poems under the sub-title 'Skinned By Light') (1998), The Sleep of a Learning Man (2003), Strategies for Confronting Fear: New and Selected Poems (2006), and Bark (2009). He has also authored one novel: In the Half Light (2000).

Anthony's poetry explores many aspects of the Australian landscape, capturing the harshness of rural life, but also meditating on the minute and beautiful details of native birds, fish and animals. His verse also examines his own childhood and early influences, and reveals a fascination with figurative language and the process of creating a poem.

Anthony Lawrence lives in Hobart, Tasmania, with his son Cormac.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

As soon as I understood that the confusing images were in the main characters mind I could wait them out to follow the story. Rich descriptions of scenes and characters and emotions held me through the last page. A great read.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

couldn't understand what was happening 80% of the time. made for some hardcore vibes though

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit hard to follow at times due to the surreal images which may have been the character's hallucinations or may have been literary techniques, I'm afraid sometimes it was hard to tell which was which. As the story went along it seemed to become more of an Irish tragedy..a little over-dramatic and some of the scenes were a bit over-done. Not a bad tale overall though.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy grows up without knowing a name for his condition (schizophrenia). Later boy travels to Ireland, where he falls in love with an alcoholic fiddle player. Somehow this is a happy development. I was not sold.

[Chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful book, I love reading it in the Winter. I haven't read anything else like it.
I enjoyed the confusion of what was real and what wasn't, it felt like falling down a rabbit hole when James was tumbling down into his thoughts.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bewildering and beautiful

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richly descriptive. Romantic. Sorrowful. Lingers with you.

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Poetic, well written and a very interesting window into schizophrenia.
I enjoyed it but I felt like I wanted... More?

[Najanha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an artful poet, so raw yet brilliant.. not bad for an Australian author.. truly a great read!