The Godless Boys

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 06 May 2011 20:46:13

A bit ago I gave a post which included mention of a review I'd seen in the Metro for a new book, The Godless Boys by Naomi Wood.

Fascinated by the topic I got the book and began to read. It's an interesting novel which has the standard elements of a good story and a few interesting twists along the way. On one level some elements seem to be a reworking of the theme of The Island by Victoria Hislop. It's not exactly plagiarism, but a community which is exiled because of something, be it an illness (as in The Island) or a belief (as in The Godless Boys), is going to have elements of similarity in terms of the description. There is also, by definition, going to be some element of darkness amongst the lighter parts of such a novel. The Godless Boys is much darker than The Island though and whilst containing some beautiful writing it is disturbing in places. It forces one to accept that people sometimes make bad decisions for good reasons and sometimes others have knowingly or unknowingly played a role in that decision making process.

In terms of the discussion regarding faith and secularism this is an interesting one. Within the book Wood plays with the themes and consequences of fundamentalism from both perspectives. She highlights the devastating consequences of this if taken to their extreme conclusions. She also highlights the softer side of each though and gives one an interesting insight into the functions of both.

As a first novel it makes an interesting read and as a review I read in the Big Issue this week suggested Naomi Wood is certainly an author to keep your eye on.