Upbound

by Peter Hassebroek

NOTE: This edition of Upbound is out of date and no longer available. Another expanded version is available.

At seven, Karl Stevenson is too young to grasp death. When his parents tell him Uncle Douglas passed away last night in their house, he doubts them and believes his beloved uncle will return to keep a promise. Months later, something his babysitter says not only affirms his faith but also spawns a theory: what if his newborn brother, Samuel, is his uncle, reincarnated?

Karl launches a quest to prove this. Only he finds his mother's resistance to discussing his uncle a formidable barrier. Adolescent distractions also present obstacles in his struggle to reconcile the odd events of the past with the present.

Yet like an upbound ship navigating the Welland Canal from one lock to another, Karl is resolute in going after the truth. Even if it tarnishes the heroic image of his uncle. Or upends his life and the lives of those close to him, once his probing clashes with Helen Stevenson's determination to contain family secrets.

215 pages, Paperback

First published March 6, 2008

About the author

I am an independent author from Durham Region, Ontario, Canada.

I was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, and emigrated to Canada before I turned seven. I grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario then moved to Toronto where I enjoyed a successful I.T. career for twenty years before my need for creative achievement compelled me to become a writer.

I have written ten books, including seven novels, two story collections, and a book of screenplays. I categorize my work as Upmarket Fiction.

I also offer coaching for aspiring storytellers to take advantage of my unique combined experience in writing and project management, as well as other services such as proofreading and copyediting.

Reviews

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Upbound is the story of Karl Stevenson and family secrets. Karl is seven when his Uncle Douglas dies suddenly and Karl refuses to believe that he is really gone. When his babysitter makes a passing remark about reincarnation, Karl finds hope in the idea that his new baby brother may actually be the reincarnation of his uncle. Upbound follows Karl through his teen years as he tries to find out more about his uncle and his family.

Based on the description of Upbound on the author's website, I thought the book would really focus on the idea that Karl's little brother is really the reincarnation of Uncle Douglas. However, I found the book much more about Karl's relationship to his family and the secrets they kept from each other. The family is disjointed, with the father obviously favoring his younger son. The mother is almost a shadow of a character as she is mainly described by other characters. Rarely do we see her in action. Karl is intrigued by his younger brother, Samuel, in the beginning but they grow increasingly competitive over the years.

I struggled in the beginning with the author's writing. Sentences seemed to be too long and were often held together by multiple commas. These lengthy sentences were sometimes convoluted and difficult to follow. However, once I made it past the first section of the book either the writing smoothed out or I became accustomed to reading it. While the middle section of the story was engaging, I found the ending ultimately disappointing as I still had unanswered questions.

Overall, this novel was a good first effort although I believe that it would have benefited from some additional editing.

Thank you to the author, Peter Hassebroek, for sending me an autographed copy of Upbound. An excerpt from the novel can be found at www.peterhassebroek.com

[Jaime · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent first effort from a new novelist, but there were definitely some missing and weak elements here. I felt that the entire story was a bit disjointed. I could have used some more timeline cues, because it was easy to lose track of how old Karl is supposed to be, especially early in the story. The characters are also a bit flat, especially Karl’s parents. I couldn’t really bring myself to care about any of them. I feel like the story could have benefited from a tighter tie to the jigsaw puzzles Karl loved as a child. There’s a metaphor there that isn’t explored sufficiently, just merely touched on at the beginning and the end. Also, the whole reincarnation storyline doesn’t carry throughout. There are some interesting family secrets here, but the writing and coherency need a little polishing.