Flashback Forward

by John Cairney

Tam Cochrane is a sickly lad, confined to his bed in Glasgow in the 1880s. His only experience of adventure and the outside world is through books - that is until his father decides to sell up and head for New Zealand. As they take the four-month journey by ship, Tam's health begins to improve, and with it signs of a new Tam, fully engaging in the real world. After arriving in their new country, the family heads to Rotorua and Tarawera, only to be caught in the volcanic eruption of 1886. Having been concussed, Tam wakes up, groggy but still the fit young man he'd been growing into, except he finds he is in Napier, emerging from the ruins of the 1931 earthquake. What has happened to the last 45 years? Why is he still a young man? And who is the other Tam Cochrane, now living like a recluse back in Glasgow? An intriguing story, it is set among the cataclysmic events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 9, 2009

About the author

John Cairney has been a professional actor, writer, singer, director, producer, lecturer and painter. All of these aspects go into the making of the author of this novel. His first writing was autobiographical. This led him to biographies based on characters he'd played in the theatre, such as Robert Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

John spent much of his life travelling, living for some time in New Zealand, before returning to his native Glasgow.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally made an effort and finished this book by skimming a lot, but sadly it doesn't improve. After getting to the point where the big incident happens and the main character is somehow split in two, things ramble on in an interminable fashion for another 200 plus pages (!) Cairney can write well, but he's relied on the big incident at around 100 pages to make his book. It doesn't. There's no plot, no characters that go anywhere or grow in any way. No interaction of people apart from some fairly bland relationships, and even those don't move forward. Very disappointing.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read because I enjoy time travel. Enjoyed reading about the time of the Tawarewa Eruption and the Napier Earthquake and early Wellington. Unusual aspect of the book was how the main character lived in two time lines one following his dreams the other not really living at all (just existing). Book makes you think.

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as something a little different. I am not sure how I would describe it but think that it does us good to read something outside of our comfort some from time to time.