Voices

by Tim Wynne-Jones

One woman journeys into insanity. But is it madness? Or is it real? Traumatized by her recent marital split, Alexis Forgeben goes to England, hoping to sort the scattered fragments of her life. Drawn mysteriously to an ancient ruin called Fastyngange, she soon finds herself on an unexpected quest - a quest both horrifying, and necessary.

Hardcover

First published April 8, 1988

About the author

Tim Wynne-Jones (born 12 August 1948) is an English–Canadian author of children's literature, including picture books and novels for children and young adults, novels for adults, radio dramas, songs for the CBC/Jim Henson production Fraggle Rock, as well as a children's musical and an opera libretto.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award
◊ Best Juvenile (2001): The Boy in the Burning House
Edgar Award
◊ Best Young Adult (2002): The Boy in the Burning House

Reviews

[The Cats’ Mother]

This has been sitting on my Book Club pile for a couple of years after a couple of the others had read it. It’s a very dated looking hardback, there’s no blurb on the book or on here, and I couldn’t remember what they said it was about, so there was never any great hurry to pick it up. I decided that with our next catch-up a week away (hopefully) and the BC bag being decidedly empty thanks to too many ebooks, that I would give it a go. Well I did, and I got to page 80 before deciding that life’s too short and giving up.

Published in 1990, this is about a young nurse who leaves Canada after her marriage breaks up and is exploring rural Somerset when she finds a small run down castle and becomes obsessed with learning its secrets.
Unusually, the story is narrated by a hole in the ground to a drunk sleeping in an alleyway. It seems the hole was once an oubliette in the castle so knows it’s history. This was as far as I got, and skipping to the end didn’t really enlighten me, but did confirm that this was not the book for me. Too many hallucinations and a whole lot of weirdness - possibly ghosts?

The main reason I kept going was I was actually enjoying the writing - the author has a lovely turn of phrase, but I do need a plot to keep me going and this was just getting far too weird. Even if I read it I don’t think I’d understand it so may as well move on.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a difficult book to read. The cover of my copy calls it a ghost story for adults, and you certainly wouldn't want to read an easy ghost story--or at least I would be disappointed if it weren't sparse on explanatory details and forever making you question whether you're going out of your own mind. Wynne-Jones certainly was good at the creepiness. But this book, more than most that I read, really required me to devote large chunks of time to reading it so that I could get properly immersed in the story and I think the fact that I couldn't always do this detracted from my enjoyment.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually read the paperback version of this novel. Like other Wynne-Jones novels, it is quite eerie. I was very taken with his novels The Knot and Odd's End. I found it easier to put this one down from time to time but still enjoyed Wynne-Jones' offbeat story.