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Even if you are not a science fiction aficionado, you will enjoy this book. I highly recommend you give it a try. I hope everyone is coping with this crazy COVID-19 situation and hopefully none of you or your loved ones has been affected. About 18 months ago I bought an iPad with the express intent of reading some eBooks. But I never got around to trying it. I just kept on borrowing the printed versions. The closing of our local council library has seen me finally putting the iPad to use and the two eBooks I have read so far, This Tender Land and The Secrets Between Us, have been real gems.
The Space Between Us works on so many levels. It is full of humanity. I suppose technically it is sci-fi, but it is also so much more. Doug excels in looking at the human race in relation to the rest of the universe, giving a real sense of perspective as to who we are and how our actions impact on each other, as well as making us think about how we treat each other.The novel begins the day after the other left off and again, we follow Bhima and Maya, her granddaughter as they keep trying to keep their heads above water in the slums of Mumbai. They meet several new characters and one old, Parvati, who was featured briefly in the last book. Parvati’s story is told throughout the story, piece by piece and she is an often sympathetic and engaging character in her seventies with a foul mouth and a fierce intelligence. This really is a novel about two elderly women and the contrast between their lives and the lives of those two generations beyond them. The descriptions of the slums and the city as a whole, the way in which it is changing, leaving some behind while others soar is wonderfully done as is the characterization. Plus of course our guests bring in their most treasured tome to wax lyrical about - so get ready for your teetering TBR [To Be Read] pile to be topped with more brilliant books.”
However, the book ended abruptly for me, as if Umrigar got bored with her story and decided to just shut the door. At her age, time has stopped flowing in a linear fashion; rather, it ebbs and swirls, creating a whirlpool at its center that on most days swallows her whole. Her yesterdays have lost their bite; it is her todays that come bearing down with fangs and claws that she has to watch out for.’ Doug Johnstone is best known as a crime author, but with The Space Between Us he successfully moves to Sci-Fi. If you aren’t a sci-fi fan please don’t let this put you off as this is such a beautiful book that touched my heart and soul. Three very different characters, at different times in their life are brought together by Sandy, an octopus from another planet. This takes them on a road trip through the highlands of Scotland, as they try to save Sandy, a trip both physical and emotional that looks at the human condition and how we need others in our lives. This duology is so lovely that it breaks my heart. I just had the strangest reading experience. I devoured the first 90% of this book in 2 days, and then I put it down and didn’t touch it again for 2 weeks. Not because I was bored or needed a break, but because I was terrified of reaching the end. I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t want to reach a point where I would no longer be reading about these characters, and so I tried to stretch out the experience for as long as possible. But yesterday, I could no longer stay away, and now the end has come 😭
Customer reviews
Sara Cox says: “Cannot wait to welcome more witty, wise and wonderful guests in to the world’s friendliest book club as we delve ‘between the covers’ for the sixth time!” The gap that is the space between us has to close if we are ever to realise the true potential of the human race.
It is however one book that a synopsis simply can’t compare to the wild ride of a story you are in for. But there is a brilliant cast; A heavily pregnant woman, a brain tumour patient and a teenage boy all connected…oh yes and by an octopus-like creature. They go on the run through Scotland…what are they running from and why? and what they find along the way…you can only read for yourself to find out. When news reaches them of an octopus-like creature washed up on the shore near where the meteor came to earth, Lennox senses that some extra-terrestrial force is at play. With the help of Ava, Heather and a journalist, Ewan, he rescues the creature they call 'Sandy' and goes on the run.During that night, a creature resembling an octopus (but not exactly an octopus as it possesses five tentacles instead of eight) washes up on the beach in East Lothian. Their journey to find out more about Sandy and his kind was fraught with obstacles, both personal and from the outside, but as they sped towards their destination with determination, they work together to get through every single absurd series of events that was thrown their way. I felt their anxiety, their fear, but also the love and understanding they were learning to find. Truthfully, I would give it 3.5 stars rounded up for the excellent depiction of a personality with one set of values being made massively and most usually invisible or completely irrelevant by the sensibilities and standards of another time. And so having to adjust. Somehow. I rounded it up for her two principle women characters and how well she defined their conversations with each other. That was 5 star.
If you like the "light at the end of the tunnel" kind of development of hope or tolerance or friendship surmounting all in a death hour declaration style- and like to cry or seek out cry reads as favorites perhaps- then you will like this continuation of The Space Between Us far more than I did. Because in aspects it reminds me of the Job tale in the Bible. And every stereotype of miserable comes clearly around, despite all the poetic language surrounding the fact of it. Along the way, Lennox, Ava and Heather form new bonds among themselves and with the life form Lennox christens “Sandy”; revive old connections with the people they call for help along the way; and find ways to heal - both physically and emotionally.Near Edinburgh: Lennox is 16 years old and living in a children's home - one night, making his way home, he is confronted by a gang of bullies from his school who set about him. Then they all hear a strange noise and see flashing blue lights in the sky, Lennox gets a strong smell of biscuits - and then nothing... While The Secrets Between Us is a sequel to The Space Between Us, it is definitely ok to read this one without having read the former. But I would suggest that you seek out a summary of the events in the earlier novel, maybe here or here. As the story unfolded, we hold on to Bhima's broken marriage and why it fell apart. We also see the callous behavior of Parvati's father. The sudden conclusion of these two very important plots was a major downer for me. It's as if the denouement just shuts down without any warning. Each of out characters were deeply personable, instantly recognisable with their distinct voices as we hear from each perspective; the switches happening smoothly, quietly telling us that they are all part of something larger if we can just find the link. All of them are suffering with something, looking for a way out but never really knowing what that could look like. The relationships between them grew beautifully, a connection and bond forming not only over their shared experiences but something much more meaningful as they recognise something within each other.
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