Passenger

by Billy Cowie

“Passenger firmly establishes Cowie as a Scottish voice of worth.”—Big Issue

When concert violinist Milan discovers that his body is harboring his twin sister—a rare medical occurrence termed “fetus in fetu”—he embarks on the most intimate and unexpected relationship of his life.

Genres: Fiction

183 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Billy Cowie is a Scottish artist, writer, choreographer and composer.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once in a while, a book really takes you by surprise. I picked this as a brief interlude from my three-month (and counting) trudge of 'Monte Cristo': it looked funny, completely bonkers and, importantly, short. Nowhere on the blurb did it mention music or musicians. Therein lay the surprise - it actually turned out to be almost a fictionalisation of music therapy techniques, a little passion of mine.



It was also strikingly reminiscent of the bizarre bisexual love triangle (square?!) in 'Being John Malkovich', of which the author seems to be cunningly aware:

"Milan tells him the whole story of Roma, Karen and Murri. It reminds Andreas of a film he saw called Bob and two girls' names he can't remember.

'This isn't a film; this is real. I came here for words of wisdom, not Film Review.'"



The other surprise? I cried at the end. Just a solitary tear, right there in the middle of the university cafeteria, but a tear nonetheless. A little gem.

[Hannah Dobson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Dee (dees_book_blog) · Rating 3 out of 5]

www.lovebooksblogbooks.blogspot.co.uk

I picked this book up for 24p in my local book stores sale bin. I have to say I totally judged this book by the cover, I didn't even read the blurb just really liked the cover so bought it (and lets face it, for 24p you pretty much can't go wrong). Once I read the blurb, I was rather intrigued.

I read this over 3 days (it's only a short under 200 pages), and it was rather good.

Milan starts hearing tapping, and it's always in the form of classical music. He starts to think he's mad, but when his back starts to ache, he sees a doctor. Turns out, his unborn twin is inside of him. A rare case of Fetus-in-fetu. Now this really made me want to finish the book.

On the front cover there is a quote from The Guardian, which says 'A sweet and touching love story', and I couldn't agree more. The love between Milan and Roma is a great one.

I have to say though, I did think the book was a little fast paced, you'll understand when you read it yourself. I thought the things Milan taught Roma all seemed to go a bit fast, she learnt things rally quickly,, which to me sometimes seemed to make the story a little unbelievable. Like sometimes Roma and Milan would have conversations, and I thought this all felt like Roma wouldn't have actually understood what was being said and wouldn't have been able to answer the way she did.

But, it was a touching story, and I'm glad I found it!

[Stephanie (Stepping Out Of The Page) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the idea of this book and found it very interesting. Milan finds out that he has his twin living inside him, a case of 'fetus in fetu', a rare but real condition. Medical conditions usually grab my attention and this one did - I found it extremely interesting to find out how Milan dealt with this discovery and attempted to communicate with his 'unborn' twin whom he named Roma. The subject was certainly a unique one and the the way that emotions from Milan were put across was charming and not over the top or exaggerated - it felt quite realistic. I found this novel to be pretty consistent. I kept attention through out but there wasn't anything that really made me desperate to read more, the ending was touching but it was a bit of an easy way out for Cowie. The writing was simple and enjoyable, with some good humour. An all-round good read, but nothing astonishing.

[Sheri Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read! The story was unique and interesting enough to give you pause to question "what if?'" The author's voice is unique and I enjoyed his concise prose that was also peppered with humor that poked just enough fun into the story. As others have noted, the ending felt rushed and a little lazy in terms of story telling. However, I would definitely give his future endeavors a try. Overall, one of the more enjoyable books I've read recently.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, it was totally amazing. I did the laughing out loud thing and the turning pages quickly thing and the insisting on reading poignant parts out loud to my tolerant boyfriend thing. And now I'm doing the most unusual thing for me, which is genuinely hoping Mister Cowie writes more fiction soon. Or even that they make a movie of Passenger. (Caveat: This reviewer is a known sucker.)

[Amberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine you had a small twin living inside your body, and one day when you are both 42 years old, they communicate with you. It's a startling and original premise, fantastically engaging, both logical and beautiful. Thank you Bev for your glowing review - it prompted me to order this from my local New Zealand library. I loved every minute, every page. I could have read 400 more.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was written by somebody I know, and at first I thought it was a bit amateur (it’s interesting how the reader relationship changes with books when one knows the author). However, there was a slow and real charm that spread through the book and I have to admit that I liked it very much by the end.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever book, but the author takes the easy way out at the end.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Totally enjoyed this creepy story and blown away at the end.