Harry August is on his deathbed.
Again.
No matter what he does or the decisions he makes, when death comes, Harry always returns to where he began, a child with all the knowledge of a life he has already lived a dozen times before. Nothing ever changes. Until now.

As Harry nears the end of his eleventh life, a little girl appears at his bedside. 'I nearly missed you, Doctor August,' she says. 'I need to send a message.'

This is the story of what Harry does next, and what he did before, and how he tries to save a past he cannot change and a future he cannot allow.

Well...what can I say? A plot that could/should be repetitive but isn't, a story flitting from one life to another backwards & forwards in time, a little confusing & complicated at times, as well as some political history that normally, I should be ashamed to say, that I would skim over....not my usual style of read at all & one I think will be of the type that the reader either loves or hates. Me? I'm firmly in the former category.

I'm not going to analyse the plot, compare it to other books about reincarnation, time-travel or whatever & my overall opinion is pretty much in the area of..."WOW! what the hell happened there?"...in a really good way, that is :o)

An astonishing, intelligent & thought-provoking read, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Passing to KB if she fancies it :o)

Released as part of the NOVEMBER "THE" CHALLENGE (#1)

Sounds from the description like I'll enjoy this - leaving near the top of the TBR pile.
Thanks, Plumster x

WOW Indeed!! - this is one of my favourite novels "grown up"!
REPLAY by Ken Grimwood tells the tale of a man who lives his life many times over, and discovers that others may be replaying too when in one of his lives, a huge blockbuster movie hits the screens, which he's never noticed before. So while the plot of Harry August may not be original, everything in it is.

I loved it, the writing flows across the pages, it is intelligent and mature, and not laced with punctuation - it punctuates itself.
Ms North wrote this at just 30 years old, and had been writing for 16 years (real name Catherine Webb and aka Kate Griffin):I will look out for more of her work.

Harry August's story finishes at the end of his 15th life, when he is about to die from radiation exposure, caused by the malfunction of a hugely advanced and scientific quantum mirror, designed to determine where we all came from and why (?Hitch Hikers' Guide to the Galaxy!! - grown up), built by Vincent Rankin, Harry's rival, torturer and murderer from years back.
I hoped all the way through that Ms North would be able to pull off a superb ending - I didn't want to be let down at the end. And I wasn't.
I can't praise it highly enough - and why didn't I give it 10? Because, like Plum-crazy, the political history leaves me glazed!!
Saving for someone I think will appreciate it.

Thank you, Plum, looking forward to our next mini-meet!

Left on Ellie's 2 'ats Hat Stall at the rally.


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