Another Life - Owen W Knight

I'm pleased to be on the Book Tour today with Love Books Tours.

Description

Imagine if we could combine dreams and reality in a world where we live forever.
Oliver believes his life to be one of disappointment and failure. Haunted by the memory of a mysterious woman he encountered thirty years ago, and obsessed with finding her, he embarks on a strange journey of grief, hope, myths and legends where dreams and truth merge.

This diligently written novel has been described as 'It's a Wonderful Life for the 21st Century'. Oliver is drawn into diverse worlds, from ancient rural beliefs and traditions to emerging medical science, as he and the reader are led to question the boundaries between dreams, reality and imagination.
"Another Life is a beautiful and thought-provoking meditation on the meaning and purpose of life, seen through the lens of a mystery story steeped in English folklore...The book’s narrative voice and its depiction of details from the natural world are outstanding." British Fantasy Society.

Review

Trigger warnings - Death of a child, suicide.

A writing style and voice which I find to be unique in this day and age and put me in mind of Mark Twain and his book A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Both for the tone of the writing and the merging of reality with the another world.

I do like a mystery and this book certainly contained one. Oliver visited a village 30 years ago, although he never found it on a map and I doesn't know how to get back there to hopefully meet the woman he fleetingly saw all those years ago. He does know she had an unusual tattoo on her wrist. 

Oliver narrates the story and takes us to and fro through his past and his dreams. We find out that he has suffered losses in his life and he feels his life is meaningless. At times I wasn't sure what was real and what was a dream. My advice is to stick with it, there is a reason behind all of it and your perseverance will be rewarded.  

When I got near the end of the book and the message of cause and effect became evident I did get a little emotional. This is where the comparison with the film "It's a Wonderful Life" became clear to me. Certainly an interesting and different book which was well researched as showed in the writing.

My thanks to Love Books Tours for a copy of the book to review.

Author Bio

Owen W Knight is a writer of contemporary and speculative fiction. His works include Another Life, described as ‘It’s a Wonderful Life for the 21st Century’ and The Invisible College Trilogy, an apocalyptic dystopian conspiracy tale for young adults, described as ‘1984 Meets the Book of Revelation’.
Owen was born in Southend-on-Sea at a time when children spent their days outdoors, creating imaginary worlds that formed the basis of their adventures and social interaction.
He has used this experience to create a world based on documented myths, with elements of dystopia, mystery and science fiction, highlighting the use and abuse of power and the conflicts associated with maintaining ethical values.
Owen lives in Essex, close to the countryside that inspired his trilogy.

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