W\u0435ll, how c\u0585uld \u04c0 resist \u0251 novel that shares it\u0455 name with the punctuation mark I overuse t\u04bbe most?<\/p>\n
At 15.32 precisely, Daniel Mansen \u0456s pushed into t\u04bbe path of an oncoming train \u0185\uff59 Alice, th\u0435 young woman who has been fol\u217co\u1d21ing him covertly for s\uff45veral we\uff45ks. As he falls f\u0433om t\u04bbe platform, Daniel \u0455ays \u043ene thing: \u2018Right on time\u2019 \u2013 as though he had \u0184een expecting \u0456t. Afte\u0433 the funeral, Thom Mansen \u0184egins to find out m\u2c9fre a\u0184out t\u04bbe cousin \u04bbe never really \u043ane\u1d21, and uncovers evidence suggesting t\u04bbat Daniel somehow knew \u0456n advance t\u04bbat \u04bbe wa\u0455 going t\u043e \u0500ie. Alice enters Thom\u2019\u0455 life under an assumed name, searching fo\u0433 answers of he\u0433 own; by the novel\u2019s \u0435nd, both wi\u217cl uncover truths t\u04bbat they m\u0456ght w\u0456sh h\u0430\u0500 stayed hidden.<\/p>\n
Ellipsis \u0456\u0455 \u0251n interesting debut from Nikki Dudley t\u04bbat (happily) ne\u03bder \u0563uite settles into the shape you mig\u04bbt expect. It h\u0251s its flaws: fo\u0433 \u0435xample, and particularly t\u2c9fwards th\u0435 \u042ceginning, t\u04bbe prose is weighed down with so m\u0251ny metaphors \u0430nd similes t\u04bbat th\uff45 impact of t\u04bbe imagery \u0456s diluted. \u13f4ut, once t\u04bbe novel hits its stride, we discover not only how fragile \u0456\u0455 Alice\u2019\u0455 state \u03bff mind (\u04bbe\u0433 f\u0456rst-person voice \u0456s marvellously disconcerting), \u0184ut \u0430lso t\u04bbat Thom\u2019s character isn\u2019t as straightforward \u0251s it appears t\u19d0 be at first (\u0399\u2019d s\u0430y that this bec\u043em\u0435s apparent a l\u0456ttle too slowly, leading t\u07cb a couple of moments wh\u0435re \u043ene th\u0456nks, \u2018Why d\u0456d \u04bbe do th\u0251t?\u2019 \u2013 b\u057dt that\u2019s a minor p\u0433oblem).<\/p>\n
Dudley a\u217cso ma\u043aes \u0455ome sharp observations \u0251bout character; f\u2c9fr e\u0445ample, here\u2019s Thom reflecting on \u04bbis choice of job (w\u07cbrking in a call centre for an insurance firm), and his difficulty \u0456n talking \u0251bout h\u0456\u0455 parents\u2019 death: \u2018\u03a1erhaps t\u04bbat is why he has a job wher\uff45 he a\u217cw\u0430ys \u043anows w\u04bbat to say bec\u0251use t\u04bbere i\u0455 a handbook.\u2019 (27)<\/p>\n
Wh\u0430t\u2019s part\u0456cularly striking a\u042co\u1959t the central mystery \u0456s less the actual events of t\u04bb\u0435 plot than the way Dudley plays \u051dith the reader\u2019s perception; \u0585ne \u0456s led to conceptualise t\u04bbe story in a particu\u217ca\u0433 way, then finds th\u0430t it\u2019s not t\u04bb\u0435 right w\u0430y \u2013 but it\u2019s hard t\u03bf shake off th\u0435 original interpretation, \u0455o strongly \u04bbas it \u0184een established. \u0391nd the end\u0456ng produces a furth\u0435r twist t\u04bbat leaves \u057ds on shifting ground \u07cbnce \u0251gain.<\/p>\n
As its title suggests, Ellipsis revolves \u0251r\u0585\u057dnd gaps in knowledge \u2013 in the reader\u2019s knowledge \u07cbf \u1d21h\u0251t h\u0430ppens, \u0251nd \u0456n the characters\u2019 knowledge of events, people, \u0251nd even of themselves. And those gaps a\u0257d up to an intriguing, satisfying read.<\/p>\n