Captain Jesus

by Colette Snowden

When three brothers find a dead magpie and peg it to the washing line, the resurrection re-enactment becomes a portent of tragedy to come, and a reminder of past guilt and trauma. In Captain Jesus we see a family struggle to cope as loss rips through their lives; through the teenage eyes of their mother, twenty years earlier, we glimpse the events that shape her response. The icons, influences and family histories that define faith connect the two narratives as the family gradually heals, thanks to the quietness of love and the natural world.

Genres: Literary Fiction

312 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 28, 2021

About the author

A writer since I was old enough to talk, I have dabbled with performance poetry and short stories before setting to work on my first novel, The Secret to Not Drowning.

My short story, 'Blue' was featured on radio 4 in 2002 and I then stopped writing for several years, focusing on raising my children.

I continued to write for a day job during this time, with feature articles and news stories for trade and technical magazines.

I am now working on a second novel - no title yet and, as with The Secret to Not Drowning, a writing process that involves finding out how it's all going to come together as I'm writing it!

Reviews

[Miriam Smith (A Mother’s Musings) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to expect with “Captain Jesus” written by Colette Snowden with an intriguing cover and a blurb featuring a tragedy, grief, guilt and faith but I knew as soon as I started reading it, I was going to enjoy it.
“When three brothers find a dead magpie and peg it to the washing line, the resurrection re-enactment becomes a portent of tragedy to come and a reminder of past guilt and trauma. As the family struggle to cope with the loss as it rips through their lives, we visit their mother’s teenage years and the events that shaped her life.”
Two stories run parallel throughout the story. Ten year old Jim tells his story in real time of his loving family - mam, dad and younger brothers, John-Joe, Gabe and baby sister Anna - as a tragedy befalls the family and the days following it. We also see Jim’s mam, Marie’s life narrated through her teenage years. These years have a huge impact on her future life and her faith in Jesus. Both stories have palpable grief which really does hit the heart. As a mother myself of three boys, “Captain Jesus” was a hard book to read at times and the emotions contained throughout were realistic, harrowing and totally understandable.
Jim is a wonderful character and his voice and feelings were believable and heartbreaking. Marie was typical of a young teenage girl, not fitting in with her peers, living with a strict religious mother and the need to rebel to feel part of her community. Both stories intertwined perfectly and each one brought its own grief and tragedy.
This is very much a Christian story and how grief affects faith. I was engrossed from the first page and felt a connection to Jim instantly. A stunning story, written with compassion and sensitivity and although this book may strike a chord a bit close to home for a lot of families and women, I found it poignant, well narrated and by the end uplifting.
An excellent book for teenage readers and adults alike.

4 stars.

[Rachel (not currently receiving notifications) Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Jesus is an intimate portrait of grief and religious faith seen through the eyes of one family that despite being heartbreaking and compassionate somehow manages to be funny and avoid falling prey to sentimentality. The story opens through the eyes of ten-year-old Jim, the eldest of three brothers begging an extra day off school at the end of the summer holidays and playing in the garden supervised by their heavily pregnant mother. Mischievous and irrepressible middle brother, eight-year-old John-Joe, is behind the decision to prank their mother by hanging a dead magpie they find onto the washing line with the intention of surprising her with their re-enactment of the resurrection. Their mother, Marie, is upset beyond any of the boys understanding and even when the magpie, named Captain, is buried in their back garden he remains a symbolic presence for all the family. Not long after this pivotal event the lives of all the family are forever changed when a random tragedy strikes and for devastated mother, Marie, it brings back the traumatic events of her past.

Both a test of their Catholic faith and one that destroys the harmony of the close-knit family it leaves eldest son, Jim, and Marie burdened by unthinkable guilt and a parallel narrative follows their individual stories. Both narrated in the first person, Jim’s follows current events whilst Marie’s perspective is as a gauche teenager two decades earlier in a miserable religious household with a deeply pious mother. For me the most compelling narrative was that of sixteen-year-old Marie, desperately hoping to fit in and be accepted by her peers and brought up in a relatively cold and undemonstrative household with a bitter mother. I had a lot of sympathy with both Marie’s story from twenty years earlier and the awful predicament that Jim is faced with in being unable to do anything to relieve his mother’s distress. It was Marie’s narrative that I could obviously identify more closely with whilst I occasionally felt that earnest Jim’s was a little overplayed.

Held together by the kindness of Jenny, a well-meaning neighbour and the extraordinary power of love, the story is testament to the enduring bonds of family life and there is a real lightness of touch to Snowden’s portrayal of the impact of grief on all of their lives. For such a distressing subject matter I was impressed by how the emphasis was on coming together, cherishing their memories and healing as a family despite knowing that life will ever be the same again. Colette Snowden steers clear of addressing the Catholic religion of the extended family in Captain Jesus but the importance of the family’s faith is the very thing that connects both stories across the generations. The story was strongly reminiscent of “A Song for Issy Bradley” by Carys Bray for me and whilst reading I did feel the author had perhaps borrowed too heavily on this novel for her inspiration, albeit with the obvious difference being the particular religion. For me it was this marked similarity which has stopped me rating the novel higher, despite some impressive characterisation and an emotive parallel narrative that kept me engaged throughout.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most powerful, beautifully written books I’ve had the pleasure to read, an exploration of grief and guilt and how it becomes a part of ourselves. It’s gonna be tough to write a coherent review without putting in any spoilers but here goes!

The first things that attracted me to this book was the epic title and the eye catching cover, it really is a brilliant piece of artwork. I had no book info to know what I was getting myself into, but I could tell from the cover it was gonna be good. We follow the life of a family, Snowden expertly uses the voice of a young lad called Jim as he is playing in the garden with his brothers when they find a dead Magpie which they peg on the washing line to make it look like it has come back to life. What follows is an unbearable tragedy, a family struggling to hold it all together and a gradual revealing of past guilt. Jim is a wonderful character, you feel for him, sharing in his grief and his letters to Father Christmas will break your heart. There is one more character that needs a mention, Jenny, absolutely loved her, a real guardian angel. The book also gets bonus points for mentioning Basingstoke…woooooo!

This is a special book, the grief is so palpable, a lot of readers will be in tears. I think it does an excellent job of handling the subject matter, Snowden has used a great deal of care which comes across big time in this stunning release.

Blog Review: https://felcherman.wordpress.com/2020...

[Jules · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just so lovely, I read it in two sittings. Collette Snowden writes wonderfully well, & really captures essence of what it’s like to be a kid. It’s full of grief & sadness but also full of kindness & gives you a warm glow. Loved it!

[Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com) · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I was the eldest, I should have stopped it. It wasn’t my idea but I still feel like it was my fault.
There’s a difference and the difference is guilt”

Captain Jesus by Colette Snowden will be published January 28th with the wonderful independent publisher, Bluemoose Books.

An absolutely beautiful and very affecting read, Captain Jesus is a story of grief, atonement, acceptance and of family, much of it told through the eyes of Jim, a ten-year-old boy. When I first started reading this last week, I commented that the writing style felt very familiar. Colette Snowden has given a voice to childhood and given it a platform to express itself with its own words, its own feelings as it tries to put a shape on the world, especially at its most upsetting.

Captain Jesus is the story of one family and the most tragic of losses that was to befall them. The story begins with three young rascals of brothers who hang a dead magpie on their clothes line one summer's day. It was a momentary decision. Not knowing what to do with it, they decided to play a joke on their mother who was in the kitchen preparing snacks for them. It was the perfect day. It was a bit of youthful messing, a bit of fun…

‘We stood back and looked at it. When the breeze blew softly, moving the washing on the line and making pink snow drift across from the cherry blossom, the bird moved with the line, flying through the snow.
“It’s like we’ve brought it back to life”, said Gabe. He crossed himself like we do at church.
“Yeah, but it’s still dead though”, John-Joe said. “It’s not like Jesus and we’re not miracle workers. We can’t do a proper resurrection…”

Little did any of them know that shortly after this eventful day their lives would be shattered, forever altered as tragedy struck in the most cruellest way imaginable. But in the moment, after their mother got over the initial shock, the boys decided an official funeral was the only appropriate ending for this magpie, whom they named Captain. Never to do anything by half, the boys wrote cards and held a proper home service in the garden with their neighbour, Jenny, invited to join them for prayers when their Dad came home from work. The innocence of this scene is beautifully depicted, ending with their mother going into labour and the boys left with Jenny as they await the exciting news from the hospital.

Captain Jesus contains two parallel stories. Jim narrates one story and his mother, Marie, narrates hers. But it is Marie in her youth that we are introduced to. As the chapters unfold, the reader is slowly given an insight into Marie’s rather strict and quite religious upbringing with a mother who had many highs and lows. Life in her teenage years was difficult, leaving Marie very much an outsider among her peers. They wasted no time in letting her know that she was not cool enough, not trendy enough to ever be invited to parties or sleepovers. Marie was frustrated with the humdrum of life with her mother and, like any teenager, she needed to rebel. Those formative years were to have a very significant impact on Marie’s life in the future but back then her priorities were very different indeed.

Captain Jesus is an extremely poignant and emotional read. Colette Snowden’s writing from the perspective of a ten year old is just exceptional. There is no condescending tone, no sense that an adult has written this narrative. Jim is an extraordinary character. His story is tragically, yet stunningly composed, as is Marie’s story. Reading Captain Jesus left me quite emotional but, on closing the book, also enlightened. Regret, grief, loss are all handled with an extraordinary sensitivity and there is a sense of hope that jumps out of the pages, uplifting the reader in the most remarkable of ways. Throughout Captain Jesus, I was marking sections on almost every page, with the most exquisite quotes pieced together by Colette Snowden, but there is one particular one that really struck me

“That’s the dangerous thing about memories; no matter how well wrapped and hidden we keep them, one small chink of light on the most obscure corners of our carefully archived experience can cast a floodlight so powerful that the drip becomes a trickle and then a torrent before we know it..”

In keeping my review deliberately vague, I am hoping to entice many of you into picking up a copy of this remarkable read when it is published in January. In Captain Jesus, Colette Snowden has captured something very tangible, something that most readers will connect with. Although Jim and Marie’s stories are very much theirs, each person will adapt at least one chapter to some event in their own lives.

An intense, profound, beautiful and very engaging novel, Captain Jesus, with it’s simply drawn, yet very effective, cover is a book I highly recommend. One that is sure to capture the heart and soul of every reader.

[Don Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Jesus was the last book I completed in 2020 and it was quite a book to end the year on.

Captain Jesus is a book that covers many different themes, the story covers both grief and faith, but there is also laughter in these pages, even if the laughter contained is sometimes down to a child’s innocence.

The story is told from two viewpoints – initially we hear from a child (this takes place in present day). They tell the story of how they have found a dead magpie in their garden – after scaring their pregnant mother with it (albeit while trying to make her laugh) it is decided that there should be a funeral. The bird becomes known as Captain Jesus – and becomes a focal point of what is to follow.

Our second viewpoint comes from the child’s mother, twenty years earlier. As her story is revealed we get some explanation as to her personality, and the relationship with her mother.

The biggest contrast between the two viewpoints is essentially the family setting. In the present day our character, Jim, is clearly part of a very loving family, who are close knit, and also rely and call on friends for help when it is needed. Meanwhile, when we travel back twenty years with Marie (Jim’s mother) the opposite is true. Marie has grown up in a closed circle, with few friends and a mother who has little time for her. The effects of this can be seen throughout the novel.

The story is marred by tragedy from the start and focuses mostly on how people deal with loss. While this is a great read, I didn’t exactly find it easygoing. While I thought this was a great book I wouldn’t exactly call it a page turner. I found that at times I had to put it aside to digest what I had been reading, and found that I enjoyed it a lot more when I started spacing out my time with it.

The author has written what can only be described as a beautiful read. It really did put me through the wringer but it is definitely a worthwhile read. I recommend you check it out.

[Julia Edgar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel has a quiet and persistent magic which helps you through the sorrows that the characters face.

The absolute strength of it is the veracity of the voices: I felt like Jim was quietly whispering his story in my ear, needing me to listen.

To leaven the sorrows mentioned, Colette Snowden’s humour, a quiet common sense and appreciation of how the world turns, helps you, the reader, and Jim and Marie through their struggles.

It’s very special indeed.

[Lesley McLean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captain Jesus by Colette Snowden is a surprisingly uplifting book considering how much grief and sadness is involved. Beautifully written, it captures the thoughts of a teenage girl and a young boy over two timelines in a totally credible way. Chiefly about family and faith, it keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens to them next. Lovely book and another corker from Bluemoose.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story unfolds through a dual narrative. Firstly from the perspective of Jim; a 10 year old boy growing up in the present day. A member of a loving family, who are about to experience an unimaginable and unbearable tragedy. The second perspective belongs to his mother Marie and takes the reader back to her teenage years, growing up in a single parent Catholic family; feeling different and tainted by a shame that she doesn’t understand.

Through the eyes of these two young people we see the world within this novel come to life. Colette Snowden has created two very distinct characters and given them powerful and unique narrative voices. At no point does the style of either narrator jar, or feel disconnected, rather there is a complete blanket of authenticity wrapped around their words. Giving life to young characters, giving them a steady believable voice is not always easy, but Snowdon pulls it off with style.

This is a story that has grief and loss at it’s core. It touches upon the physical and emotional toll that grief takes on a family not just in the aftermath of loss but also through the long term effects. The web that loss spins through this novel is far reaching and indeed loss comes in many forms. It is not just the loss of a loved one that drives this story, but the loss of a dream, the loss of faith and the loss of what makes you whole.

The multigenerational perspective is inspired. For Marie, growing up in small, constrained family, has had far reaching and long lasting effect. Her childhood is marked by a strange silence where truths were occasionally spat out only to be swallowed back and then never spoken of again. She is attempting to create a different life for her children.

But will the tragedy that befalls her small family be too big for her to deal with and what will be the impact on Jim and his siblings life?

From laughter, to religion, to growing up and beyond, this story crosses so many divides and offers an insight into grief, but also joy. It is beautifully told and reflects the best and the worst of the human spirit.

[Tilly Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this is how you write a story - there are so many people who we could call writers, but maybe not so many I’d call a storyteller like Snowden.

This is a novel overflowing with tragedy and loss, and yet amongst all of that there is a certain lightness and innocence which in fact leaves you with that lovely warm feeling whilst reading.

This is a story about family, belief, superstition, mistakes, unbearable loss, but above all of that, love. A love between mother and child, or between brothers. One of our two narrators, Jim, is so full of love and kindness that it manages to balance the darkness of the moments narrated by his mother, Marie, as a young girl struggling under the weight of her mother’s regret and resentment.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but it is worth mentioning that there are some elements involving children which could be triggering (please DM if you would like any details) - this certainly isn’t a lighthearted read, but my goodness it is beautiful.

This book is another perfect example of why you should pick up a novel from an indie publisher - it’s absolutely brilliant and shouldn’t be missed!

[Karen Kingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This thought provoking book, featuring a dual timeline, with a mother dealing with loss and the other is her memories from being a teenager in a single parent Catholic household. Could the actions of the teenager have led to the tragedies that befall her family in later years?

As a mum I found the losses that Marie suffered heartbreaking. The modern part of the story is ‘told’ by her eldest son, James aka Jim, who talks first about how the children found a dead magpie and tried to bring it back to life, which frightened their mum. The early part of the story appears quite humorous, with references the ‘big fat baby’ his mum is carrying. However after the accident in the garden, his Mum withdraws from family life. The narrative about how the family deal with this, by Jim is very emotional and believable.

The other narrative is the memories of Marie, a young Catholic girl, living with a strict religious mum, which explain why she blames herself for the tragedies that have happened to her precious family. As a non religious person, it was interesting to read how her experience of religion impacted on her grief and feelings of guilt.

In a time when many of us are experiencing grief for the loss of loved ones, this is a well planned and executed book about how a family had to deal with a terrible loss.

This isn’t an easy read, due to the subject matter but I’m happy to recommend it. I look forward to reading more by Colette Snowden in the future.

[Nigel Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captain Jesus is remarkable and memorable. I enjoyed every moment.

Colette writes with great assurance and fills each page with a kaleidoscope of emotions. The wit and wisdom of a boy as he narrates family life. The memories of a mother and her guilt-fuelled legacy. The unity of family, faith and community. Those ominous magpies.

There are scenes, several of them, that left me in tears - more so because of the way those scenes were simply described, open and real. But there was laughter too, small drips of humour, perfectly timed. I also loved how the story-telling lured me in to the mundane and then plunged in to short assessments of complex imagery and powerful sensibility. Many times, I read and re-read sentences and paragraphs because of the weight and quality of the writing and how good it made me feel.

It’s my great privilege to have a signed copy.

[Fiona Erskine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adored this book.

The melt-in-the-mouth beautiful writing dissolves (along with this reader) so that we're up close and personal with the alternate voices, Jim and Marie, the terrible turning points, the possible paths forward and how they might intersect.

In the hands of a lesser writer this relentless intimacy might be exhausting, but Colette Snowdon makes the stories sing. And it's not just the writing but the soul of this book which is pitch perfect.

A study in grief - this is not for the fainthearted. For me it was cathartic and utterly, gloriously transcendent.

Warning - ultimately uplifting, but you may need some tissues along the way. I cried buckets.

[Laura Besley · Rating 5 out of 5]

"[P]eople make assumptions about other people, opinions get fixed at a moment in time and people don't look past what they think they already know."

In this extremely touching and beautifully written dual narrative novel, Colette Snowden perfectly captures a young boy in the wake of a huge loss and a teenage girl who is coming to terms with losses of her own. In alternating chapters we learn how these losses affect their day to day lives and the lives of those around them.

I can't recommend this book highly enough - I absolutely loved it.

[Heather Cranston]

⭐️⭐️⭐️ The book focuses on the lives of a mother and son. It is a book about loss and death. The narrative is followed through the eyes of the young boy and the back story of his mother’s childhood. It shows how people in different ways deal with the death of a child : mother, sibling, father, and how that changes the dynamic of a family. The reference to the bird as an omen of death with the possibility of resurrection was not something I found illuminating with regard to the story.

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent 5 star read from Bluemoose. Spent the last two nights gripped by this story of loss, guilt, faith, and eventually coping. Beautifully written with such sadness, and also a wry gentle humour, and exquisitely crafted characters. Wonderful.

[Élaina Gauthier-Mamaril · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 This book lacked a distinct sense of time and place. It's always difficult to write in a child's voice and the style of Jim's narration took me in and out of the experience. The Marie chapters were much stronger, but the ending felt rushed.

[Orla Owen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book - wonderful characterisation that pulls you right into their world. I'm a big fan of Colette Snowden and also really recommend her first novel, The Secret to Not Drowning.

[Lilinaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I (unexpectedly) loved this up until the last couple of chapters. Then I found the ending a little disappointing.

[Gill Parr · Rating 5 out of 5]

My best book of the year so far. I was lucky enough to receive a proof copy from Colette and loved the book from start to finish. The idyllic scene conjured up at the beginning of the book is soon overturned when the family face devastating loss. The crisis is seen through the eyes of Jim, the intensely loveable ten year old son, taking so much guilt on his young shoulders. The present day story is told through the eyes of Jim, and his mother Marie recounts events that occurred during her teenage years. The concept of faith weaves through the story but is never over bearing and it leaves the reader with a feeling of hope.
Another great novel from the wonderful Bluemoose publishers.