A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better

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This is all the more impressive since the narrative is filtered through a boy’s mind, so that mounting fear about the father’s violence is fused with pity for the son’s initial trust and subsequent appalled dismay . For twenty years, Daniel Hardesty has lived with the emotional scars of a childhood trauma which he is powerless to undo.

W]ith his third novel, A Station on the Path to Somewhere Better, Wood’s talent has burgeoned spectacularly. Benjamin Wood follows up the stunning The Ecliptic with a meditation on fathers and sons, and the lasting effects of horrific acts of violence … I loved Wood’s second novel, and this is a completely different but equally stunning piece of work. I'm glad I didn't know what the "incident" was before I got to it (please, be careful when reading reviews), and that section was definitely the novel's strongest, even with how pointless and sad it seemed.It’s 1995 when Kath is persuaded to let Fran take Daniel on a road trip to Leeds to see the set of a children’s series, Artifex, which Daniel loves. If it hadn't had been for Europa Editions publishing this, I most likely would've never come across his work. The richly textured narrative is subtle and holds quiet power which entrances, draws you in and before you know it you are in its grip.

On the road, Daniel listens to an Artifex audiobook, and passages from it augment the narrative but add nothing. This story runs parallel to Daniel’s and he uses it as a way to emotionally support himself at times when he is alone, sad or terrified. That line is one that Francis Hardesty tightrope-walks for the first half of the book, then falls off of spectacularly in the second half. The plot of The Artifex parallels Daniel’s journey, a device that might seem trite in less skilled hands, but here the elements are balanced perfectly. He lets us in on the arc of the story right away yet he still rachets up the tension and suspense so tightly that at times, it’s next to impossible to exhale.Towards the end, all grown up and contemplating fatherhood, Daniel unearths a motto from Sophocles passed on from his mother: “The small man lives his life outside disaster. I understand I can change my preference through my account settings or unsubscribe directly from any marketing communications at any time. But with every passing mile, the layers of Fran's mendacity and desperation are exposed, pushing him to acts of violence that will define the rest of his son's life. Even though Daniel knew that his father couldn't be trusted, he chose to believe him, and this faith is reflected in the story of The Artifex itself - which is about a boy in the 1950s who befriends a woman he believes is an alien, but who is probably mentally ill. T]he ground has been laid so thoroughly, motivations and personal dysfunctions so intricately established, that the shocking acts of violence seem perversely comprehensible.

Much of the novel is a road trip, with its climax set in the Lake District, highly appropriate backdrops. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. His debut, THE BELLWETHER REVIVALS (2012), was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Book Prize, and won one of France's foremost literary awards, Le Prix du Roman Fnac. But as it is, the bulk of the book is spent describing the horrible events of the past, and there can be no particular reason to treat those events as though they’re special.Narrated by Daniel Jarrett (formally Hardesty) it tells the story of a twelve year old Daniel and a road trip he took with his father, Francis in 1995. Important: Your credit card will NOT be charged when you start your free trial or if you cancel during the trial period.