In Search of Solace

Emily Mackie

A tale of disquiet, the omnipresent narrator unravels the mysteries surrounding central protagonist Jacob Little. A man of many identities, the story is at times predictable yet surprising too as pieces of Jacob’s complex history are revealed. Portrayed as something of an anti-hero, I nevertheless felt sympathy for Jacob and was intrigued by his obsession for Solace and the reason for his deception.

Extract

A different year, a different time, a different place, a different name. In 2004 he was Otto, a purple-bearded pagan dabbling in the occult. In 2005 he was theatre fanatic Benny Silverside. In 2006 he was known as both Simeon Lear the historian and Keith the archaeologist. In 2007 he was Isaac Featherstone, Teddy Two-Fingers and Graymalkin the street preacher. In 2008 he was Lambert the Christian and Teza the Buddhist. In 2009 he was Kenny Berk, Lindsay Ray, Trevor Bolter. In 2010 he was philosopher Eric Germain Huber and then later simply Archie the alcoholic.

Parallels