Find out the latest indie author news. For FREE.

ADVERTISEMENT

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 9780692653890 0692653899
  • pages
  • $
Paperback Details
  • 04/2016
  • 978-0692653890
  • 148 pages
  • $19.99
Andy Owen
Author
East of Coker
Andy Owen, author

Adult; General Fiction (including literary and historical); (Market)

The lives of Arthur, a wounded veteran of an old war, the love he left behind, an injured veteran of a new war and an Iraqi family in Basra, become intertwined as they all try in different ways to cope with the uncertainty the conflicts they have been exposed to has created. As their stories eventually collide in a hospital in London, while riots outside get closer each night, Arthur tries to free himself from the anchors of the past and ensure his new friend does not suffer like he has. As Arthur learns how to accept his fate he realises there is one more fight he must fight. He must reach the woman who has been waiting for him to return, for all these years, before time runs out. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a family try to cope with the consequences of a modern war fought on ancient soil by unwelcome intruders, threatening their way of life and traditions. East of Coker moves through a London and an Iraq that shadows TS Eliot’s Waste Land, asking what duty do those left behind have to those that would otherwise be forgotten and, how through acceptance of what we have done, who we are, and where we are all inevitably heading to, what happiness can be found.
Plot/Idea: 9 out of 10
Originality: 9 out of 10
Prose: 10 out of 10
Character/Execution: 7 out of 10
Overall: 8.75 out of 10

Assessment:

The searing reality of a young combat veteran who returns home is beautifully and bittersweetly brought to life in Owen's slim, potent tale of war and recovery. The author's first-person chronicle is written in lyrical, poetic language: paragraphs of dense prose capably reflecting the memories, horror, and emotional baggage the protagonist carries with him. Stunningly emotive, frequently puzzling (in terms of narrative voice), but consistently remarkable, passionate, strong, and significant.  

Date Submitted: July 12, 2016

Reviews
Dandelions Inspired

This outstanding novel is an examination of what defines us as people.

Gay Watson 'A Philosophy of Emptiness'

‘This is an ambitious and thoughtful book, valuable both for itself and its charitable links. It weaves stories of loss and war around a structure of T.S. Eliot’s the Waste Land and speaks for, as well as supports, some of those for whom speech is difficult yet necessary in the wake of past trauma.’

Tweetspeak

He writes with a knowledge of war and the military so vividly, at times the reader is right next to him, experiencing the same events. And he writes with a quiet beauty that is often simply stunning.

And yet East of Coker is ultimately hopeful, that lives can be renewed. One can’t pick up from where one left, but one can start a new life, a different life. The old veteran eventually sees that, as he reaches out to the lost love decades later.

East of Coker is an extraordinarily fine way of using the poetry of T.S. Eliot in a way that I believe Eliot meant it to be understood. It is a worthy fundraising project. And a very moving narrative.

Formats
Paperback Book Details
  • 9780692653890 0692653899
  • pages
  • $
Paperback Details
  • 04/2016
  • 978-0692653890
  • 148 pages
  • $19.99
ADVERTISEMENT

Loading...