Tristan Hughes

Fifteen-year-old Zachary Taylor’s mother committed suicide when he was nine; shortly afterwards he and his father moved to live in a cabin on the shore of Sitting Down Lake, in the wilderness of Northern Ontario. With their only neighbours a leech trapper, an eccentric millionaire and an expert on snow, it is a lonely and isolated life until the arrival of the somewhat eccentric and enigmatic Eve Spiller, the millionaire’s teenage niece. Some years earlier her parents had been killed in a plane crash over one of three lakes to the north but, as their bodies were never found, she is now in search of their remains. Together these two adolescents embark on a strange and disconcerting journey of discovery, attempting to make sense of their past experiences, to find ways to accept the things which cannot be changed, and for which they are not responsible, and to move forward into adulthood.
This coming of age story captures the struggles faced by Zachary and Eve, whose developing friendship is based on their shared experiences of death, with its aftermath of grief, anger and confusion. Their interactions are convincingly and beautifully described, and I soon felt drawn into their individual journeys of discovery. The author captures the pain of their grief, as well as their struggles to attempt to make sense of their often confused and ambivalent feelings. He equally convincingly evokes the absolute certainties of adolescence! However, it is not only the central characters who are so well-drawn, each of the eccentric neighbours is brought vividly to life, with each having a significant part to play in the developing story. The descriptions of Zachary’s quiet, reserved father were at times so poignantly moving that they often brought tears to my eyes.
The descriptions of the Northern Ontario wilderness (an area I know well) are so wonderfully evocative that, with memories of many camping trips, not only could I visualise the atmospheric beauty of the lakes and the woods, but I was also vividly reminded of the misery caused by swarms of biting black fly and mosquitoes – and of being unable to escape them! Alongside the beauty, he also captured the sense of mystery, wildness and hidden darkness in such a remote area where, at times, it is all too easy to become lost and to feel disorientated. To add an extra depth to my enjoyment of the book, his descriptions of Peggy’s Cove, in Nova Scotia evoked happy memories of many visits to the dramatic coastline of that province.
At just over a hundred and eighty pages this is a relatively short novel, but the author’s restrained, lyrical prose means that not one word feels wasted. Its themes of loss, guilt, regret, friendship and, ultimately, optimism, are explored with great insight and compassion. There were moments when it felt excruciatingly tense and painful to read, to the extent that I almost had to remind myself to breathe. However, it was the author’s skill at evoking such a depth of emotion which enabled me to feel so engaged with each of the characters. The intensity of the story was leavened by some gentle humour, executed with a light touch but adding a convincing depth to the characters.
This is a haunting, beautifully written story, one which will remain in my memory for a long time and which I’m sure I’ll re-read to capture again the feeling I had when I finished it – that I had just enjoyed that rare experience of reading a perfectly formed story.… (más)

Once again i am indebted to Nudge Readers for providing me with this book, to read and honestly review. In this case i am especially grateful because this book is written by a completely new author to me at any rate, and a book in all probability i would never have chosen and taken down from the shelf, and therefore i would have missed out on a very entertaining enjoyable and quirky little read.
Set in the wilds of Ontario Northern Canada, this is an achingly beautiful almost unbelievably descriptive story, the sights and the sounds, so real you feel as though you can actually reach out and touch the wonders of nature so expertly described.
The story revolves around fifteen year old Zach Taylor a dependable somewhat ordinary dependable lad, living a quiet lonely isolated life with his father in these seemingly idyllic surroundings. Their few aged neighbours could easily qualify for parts in "Twin Peaks" weird does not do justice to describe them. That is until the arrival of the enigmatic and somewhat strange Eva Spiller who promptly proceeds to stir up proceedings, both our main characters have known tragedy in their short lives, and together they embark on a voyage of discovery. Nothing in Sitting Down Lake is quite what it seems, the surrounding forest hides ruins surprises and is full of mystery.
I previously mentioned this is a short book of 180 pages, but there is no filler just a simple engaging story, a haunting tale of loss and regret, but also of friendship and hope, and i personally very much recommend it.… (más)

In Revenant, Tristan Hughes’ latest novel, three friends come together to their island home in Whales after a ten-year hiatus. The absence of the fourth member of their childhood group is a gaping hole for all of them. Ricky, one of the three, tries to come to terms with his return home and the memories that are awakened.

“…it struck me today that my life this far is really a before and after thing, it’s got a BC and an AD…if you’ve got one of these calendar sorts of moments in your life you’ll know what I mean, and you’ll know how everything seems to be building up and down, towards and away, from that moment, like it’s the plug that charges all the electricity in your head and everything that’s near it seems bigger, brighter, clearer, more visible, even when you don’t want it to be.”

In his sad and lyrical prose, Hughes wanders back and forth in time over that moment. The story is told in the voices of the friends: Ricky, a lonely, angry young man, Neil, fearful and shy, and Steph, who was the town girl, the outsider. Ever-present is the missing Del. Hughes uses the overlapping thoughts and images of the characters to portray the childhood events that altered the course of their lives, as well as their emotions, both past and present. This story was beautifully written.… (más)