Review of Back Again - Susan May - 4/5 Stars
Back again is the story of Dawn, who has the ability to travel through time. Unlike, H.G. Wells or others since, who have more recently covered this topic, there are no mechanics to the time travel and, therefore, this ability could equally be described as a curse; particularly as Dawn has to use this ability in an effort to avoid the death of her beloved son Tommy - reliving the moment in an attempt to change his fate.
I really loved the premise of the book. Susan May avoids the temptation of trying to explain how time travel is possible - which is a real strength for me. It reminds me of the debate between King and Kubrick over The Shining. King hated Kubrick’s ending (amongst other things), which left so many unanswered questions. Kubrick’s argument was that the mysterious should not be explained - I get where he was coming from. So a thumbs up to Susan May, for leaving this a mystery - if you want an explanation of the inexplicable - pick up a different book.
I also loved the characters, especially Kylie, who was just perfect. The author’s voice shifts perfectly into character, and doesn’t pull any punches in exploring how Kylie views the world. Susan May is a very visual writer, and by that I mean I can picture the movie playing in my mind, as I’m reading - which tells me that she was picturing it well, as she was writing. This writing style was most powerful in the first half of the book, which tells Dawn’s vivid and enthralling backstory, as well as giving you an insight into Kylie (that character’s staying with me!)
What would have made it a five star book, for me? Because of the intriguing premise, and the way Dawn’s experience of time travel works (he says vaguely, not wanting to give too much away) much of the second half of the story centres around Dawn’s visceral emotions. As you can imagine, reliving your child’s death is fraught and it’s exceptionally hard to carry a long stretch of prose with such angst. This is probably a personal thing and might have something to do with me not being a mother - these parts didn’t quite sing as much as the parts with Kylie and Dawn’s early adventures.
I would also have loved to have known Tommy a bit more. He’s, understandably, portrayed through the eyes of Dawn, and I wondered what his world felt like, to make me as desperate to save him as his mother was.
I would recommend Back Again to those who - like me - don’t need a technical explanation of time travel and just want to enjoy experiencing the possibility.