Robert Swindells

Over the years I have read a lot of books by Robert Swindells, and have often found them somewhat disturbing. This book just shouts out that it could be disturbing, and so it has been on my TBR shelf for some years just waiting for me to get around to it, and I have been avoiding it.

Which is a pity, as it turns out, because it really was very good!

Martha is the daughter of religious parents from an ultra strict Christian or Christian like sect. She dresses plainly, and lives a life without show more modern distractions like computers or TV (the book was written before smartphones, so they don't figure either). She is, nevertheless, in a state middle school, where she is bullied because she is different.

And then along comes Scott, a new boy in the school, whose engaging, winning, and wonderfully plausible character shines through the pages of this work. We spend half of our time in Scott's head, and half of the time in Martha's, and both characters are well drawn, but it is Scott who brings a touch of humour, and a good dose of normality to a book about something very strange indeed... because Martha's family has a secret. A secret called Abomination.

To avoid spoilers I won't say any more, but this book is well written, and despite the religious nature of some characters, it does not descend into any silly attacks on religion but rather looks at the choices some very flawed people might make, and the repercussions of these. show less

I won't admit, even to myself, why I wanted to read this YA book, but 'Brother in the Land' is a very effective short story about nuclear war.

Teenager Danny Lodge witnesses the end of the world from the shelter of an old wartime pillbox on the moors above his Yorkshire home town ('Skipley' is destroyed, with neighbouring 'Branford' reduced to a hole in the ground, which is ironic. I live in 'Branford', and at the moment, not a lot of imagination is required to picture the scene!) He becomes show more part of a new society of survivors, desperate and scared, living in the ashes. Told in first person, with a blunt Yorkshire accent and a hint of male bravado, Bradford-born author Swindells really brings this 'what if?' scenario to life, and the scariest prospect is not what would happen if the bombs fell, but the anarchy awaiting the unlucky few who survive. As Danny's friend Kim tells him, it's about looking out for yourself, and being harder than the others. Almost as soon as the dust clears, people are looting, robbing and killing their neighbours, immune to the suffering of those around them. I think I would rather die in the blast.

A quick read, but very thought-provoking in content and a cynical perspective on human nature that is sadly all too accurate. I was disturbed by Swindell's distopian vision, and this story is meant for a younger age group - any children reading this might have nightmares afterwards! show less

A short book that packs a punch. Told in alternating chapters by a homeless boy Link and an insane serial killer who wants to rid the streets of "scum" of the Earth. This is chilling because we, the reader, know that the Killer has singled out Link to be one of his victims, and this is so suspenseful.
Throw in a homeless girl with a secret at the end, and the killer systematically picking off homeless people by various means and no one caring and you have a short but gripping book. Boys will show more love this. show less

This is the story of Danny Lodge and his 7-year-old brother, Ben, who live in the English village of Skipley. The nuclear missiles have fallen: many friends and loved ones are dead, and everything has changed. Food is scarce, water is contaminated, and people are hungry for power and revenge. It is a brutal story, its characters without hope. Danny makes this plain as he begins his narration: “There were those whose fate it was to wander this landscape of poisonous desolation. One of them show more was me.”

One of the most striking things about this book is the afterword, where the author explains his reasons for publishing such a harsh story: “I decided that there ought to be at least one novel for young people which would present a realistic vision of life in a post-nuclear world… I did not enjoy writing Brother in the Land… the act… brought home to me the full horror of what some people will contemplate doing to others”. His purpose, he asserts, lay in the hope that young people, having read his story, “will prove wiser and more responsible…and that the bombs will not fall”.

There are good moments in the book, glimpses of joy. For example, Danny is amazed that he can still, despite everything, feel attracted to Kim, a girl he meets by the well. Some people remain kind- Danny’s encounter with the school bully turns out better than he could have hoped for. But things very often go wrong- like the much-awaited crops the people plant, or the soldiers, who Danny is convinced must eventually come, to provide relief for the town.

Part of the appeal of the book is its unmistakable realism: despite the fact that none of us have lived through anything like this, we know that this must be how it would be. There is no point in the book at which you think “but it wouldn’t really be like that”; the author’s vision is cruelly accurate. Danny, and those around him, invent new words for types of people that didn’t exist before the bombs fell; his narration explains with straightforward dismay about Badgers, Spacers, Terminals, and Purples.

Danny’s way of expressing himself is down-to-earth. As with many books by this author, the characters speak with pronounced English accents, the dialect often unfamiliar to readers from other countries, but the story all the more realistic because of this. Danny describes things the way he sees or feels them; he’s not trying to write an English essay, he’s trying to record his experiences. He says its “too horrible to describe”; yet he manages to make us understand exactly what he’s going through, with his simple, brief sentences and vivid comparisons.

Make no mistake: this is not a book to enjoy. Yet it is a great story, and I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone over the age of 10 who cares about the world and wants to make a difference to it. show less