Fireshadow...

Fireshadow (2004) - Anthony Eaton (1972- )


a lifetime
is more than a straight line
from A to B

there are colours
primary and secondary
growing and fading

there are bobbins and skeins and threads
that struggle to fit through
a needle's eye

there are stoic lands
with secrets
and all-knowing skies

and even a cleansing fire
flaunts deep shadows

GOODREADS REVIEW

Fireshadow by Anthony Eaton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fireshadow is a narrative which slowly winds and splits, reverses and twists.
You can feel ghosts,
Spirits of land, fire, sky,
POW camp 16 in Marinup in Western Australia caters for the ghosts of World War II and the living. Vinnie stumbles here seeking some alternative reality away from his nightmare involvement in his sister's death by fire. Erich, a young German POW, begrudgingly learns that there is a reality beyond war. And other role players seem to manoeuvre round and connect these two unlikely characters. Stereotypical WWII views of Germans, of POW camps and even stereotypical social attitudes to troubled teenagers are overturned and portrayed in new light. Perhaps, in the attempt, characters seem a little sketchy rather than rounded... which can be frustrating, even disappointing...but nevertheless, that 'weaknesses' urges the reader to keep travelling, to inquire and explore this unusual narrative journey of intersecting lifetimes.

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