The Pursuit of William Abbey

September 23, 2019
North (The Gameshouse) masterfully explores the weight of guilt and the power of truth in this dark historical fantasy. Sister Ellis is working as a nurse in France during WWI when she meets William Abbey, an Englishman who was cursed by the mother of a boy whose life he failed to save when he was a young doctor in Natal, South Africa in 1884. The novel is framed as Abbey sharing his story with Sister Ellis, telling of his employment as a spy for Great Britain, his epic love affair, and the ghastly shadow that dogs his every move. This shadow spirit’s presence gives Abbey the power to see the truth of men’s hearts, but it will kill those he loves if it catches him. Wracked with guilt over his past and enabled by his curse to see the evil motivations of the cruel imperialist he serves, Abbey sets out on a violent quest for revenge against his colonialist masters. North unflinchingly describes the ruthlessness of imperialism, but her choice to use a straight white male character to fight back against the exploitation of colonialism muddies her message. Readers will find this fantastical thriller as entrancing as it is disturbing. Agent: Meg Davis, Ki Agency

October 15, 2019
A suspenseful tale of the truths that lie hidden in the human heart. English doctor William Abbey stood by and said nothing while a white mob set a Zulu boy on fire in Natal in 1884. The boy's mother cursed him, and now the shadow of the boy who died follows him implacably wherever he goes. As the shadow draws near, Abbey sees the truth in people's hearts; if it reaches him, someone he loves dies. Where he sees a curse, others see a tool, and before long, he's drawn into service as a spy. Abbey says he wants a cure for his condition, but it's when he meets a woman like him that what he truly wants, and what he'll do to get it, starts to become clear. North (The Gameshouse, 2019, etc.) has reached back into her seemingly bottomless bag of tricks and pulled out another striking and unusual story--and this one marries an original concept with a straightforwardly suspenseful plot, making it more accessible than some of her other recent work. "Truth," says one of the truth-speakers, "is imperceptible to human eyes, because we are so caught up in being ourselves that we are never simply here, seeing, here, being, here." This is a world-spanning cat-and-mouse chase that tackles big questions about the nature of truth and whether we can ever really know one another or ourselves. True love, life and death, what's worth dying--or killing--for: It's all here in this gripping, bloody, and haunting novel.

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Starred review from November 1, 2019
North's latest once again displays her mastery of lyrical prose and, like the critically acclaimed The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August (2014), explores an unusual conundrum. In 1884, while serving as a physician in South Africa, William Abbey witnesses the murder of a boy, and having done nothing to prevent the tragedy, is cursed by the boy's grieving mother. Desperate to be forgiven for his cowardice, he looks for any means to stay ahead of the shadow that relentlessly follows him. For the doctor has become a truth-speaker: as the shade comes nearer, Abbey becomes aware of hidden secrets and is ultimately compelled to babble the truth for all to hear. But he must keep moving because if the shadow touches him, someone he loves dies. Abbey is coerced into becoming a spy for the British government and learns that other truth-speakers are similarly exploited. The historical period from 1884 to 1917 provides a rich veldt of events for William to interact with as he anxiously tries to outpace his curse. The author presents a fascinating testament to humanity's fallibility and tendency towards denial, merged with the potency of truth and the power of love.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

October 25, 2019

North (The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August) here tells a story within a story, interweaving the tale of South African doctor William Abbey in the 1880s, who is cursed for not interceding when white townspeople kill an African boy, and the narrative of a World War I convalescent hospital. Abbey, now walking the earth as a truth speaker driven to proclaim what he sees in people's hearts before fleeing the unstoppable, shadowy soul of the murdered boy, finds a conversational partner in one of the hospital's nurses. The story intends to depict both the colonized, illustrating the brutal competition for resources and power, and the colonizers, whose descendants are haunted by the legacy of their ancestors. In early chapters, North uses intentionally disturbing language--commonly used by Victorian-era whites--and imagery to describe African characters and the things that happen to them. Such language seems to be employed here to drive home the atrocities of colonialism but may be upsetting for some readers. VERDICT Recommended for fantasy fans with a penchant for darker story lines that investigate themes of colonialism and struggles for power. [See Prepub Alert, 5/5/19.]--Monica Howell, Northwestern Health Sciences Univ. Lib., Bloomington, MN

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2019

BISACed as a supernatural thriller but better described in the publicity as high-quality horror, this latest from World Fantasy Award winner North features babe-in-the-woods English doctor William Abbey, who in 1880s South Africa witnesses the lynching of a local boy by white colonists. His mother curses William, and the dead boy's shadow begins trailing William relentlessly, bearing a terrible threat: if the shadow catches him, the person William most loves will die. With a 75,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.