Tristan Hughes was born in Ontario but grew up on the Welsh island
of Ynys Mon. This, his third novel, is set in a remote Welsh village
by the sea. Perhaps his coming from another country made him
particularly observant and sensitive to his new land. The book
certainly evokes a vivid picture of the people and landscape of this
lonely little town.
It is the story of four friends, two boys, two girls, who grew
up together and made their own little gang. Each chapter is written in
the voice of one of them, with the notable exception of a girl called
Del, who was the ringleader in real life but missing from this account
of their memoirs. Hughes is skilful in drawing you into their lives
and particularly good with the childrens’ feelings.
He is both a writer and teacher himself, with a PhD in literature
from King’s College, Cambridge. He has taught American literature in
Cambridge, Taiwan, Wales and Germany . He won the Rhys Davies Short
Story Award in 2002 and praise for his first two novels which were
published in the UK. “Revenant” is his debut in Canada.
Book Review by Anne McDougall