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Foreshadowing

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Alexandra Fox can see the future. Before you start thinking that her story is one of predicting winning lottery numbers and envisioning her future husband, though, be forewarned that the only thing Alexandra is able to see in the future is death. It all starts when, at the age of five, Alexandra knows, with utter certainty, that her playmate Clare will die. When her friend does die suddenly, and when Alexandra has ongoing visions of death and destruction --- visions that always prove accurate --- Alexandra's parents and brothers soon start to see her as a freak, refusing to acknowledge her gift. Or is it a curse?

When World War I breaks out, 17-year-old Alexandra desperately wants to help. Her oldest brother Edgar enlists almost immediately, but her other brother Tom opposes the war and wants to be a doctor instead. Alexandra finally convinces her father to let her train as a nurse, but her premonitions of her patients' deaths become almost too much for her to handle. When family circumstances finally drive Tom to the front, Alexandra has a recurring vision of his death, a vision that compels her to follow him to France in a desperate attempt to avert his fate. On the way, she encounters a man, known only as Hoodoo Jack, who also sees terrible visions of the future. Is it possible that Alexandra is among the subjects of his premonitions?

As Alexandra delves deeper into the horrors of the Somme, she also undertakes a more introspective journey --- to try to discover the extent, and limitations, of her unusual gift. "If I can see the future, then what does that mean?" Alexandra writes. "It would be like knowing the end of a story right from the start, almost as if you were reading it backward. And who wants to know how their own story ends?" Marcus Sedgwick cleverly constructs THE FORESHADOWING in this way, beginning with Chapter 101 and counting down to Chapter 1, where Alexandra's story ends, but not in the way readers might expect.

Alexandra develops a feeling of kinship with mythical character Cassandra, who was doomed to foretell the future of the Trojan War, but was cursed to have no one believe her. Mythical overtones abound in Sedgwick's fascinating novel, which combines Alexandra's dreadful supernatural gift with the equally horrific realities of trench warfare. THE FORESHADOWING also combines historical accuracy with extraordinary suspense, and it raises profound questions about destiny, fate, and a young person's place in the world.

--- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

this was a great book but i dont like sad endings so i wont sopil it but id like it much more if it had a happy ending

"It would be like reading a book you know very well, but reading it backward, from the final chapter down to chapter one, so that the end is already known to you." - this is the last phrase in chapter 75 (technically, chapter 27), and this is how exactly the chapter numbers were in the book - started with chapter 101, ended with chapter 1.

The book is a first person narrative of an English girl, Alexandra who lived in the early 1900's during the First World War. She was able to see death, but as it were in any time (especially in her time), no one believed her. The plot would have been very moving and dramatic, had it not been told like Alexandra was 10 rather than 17. Clearly, it was meant for a younger set of readers. That's probably why the chapter numbering was that way, though it's a feeble attempt to get the readers' attention.

The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick is a unique blend of historical fiction and the supernatural side of sci-fi. Sedgwick uses World War I as the backdrop for his tale set in England and France. Through a series of collected thoughts, the reader follows Alexandra Fox as she reluctantly uses her ability to peek into the future and see death to prevent her brother Tom from being killed on the French Front.

Alexandra first experienced this curse when she was five and had a vision of her friend Cassandra's impending death. This vision changed the way Alexandra's family related to her and became a barrier between her and them.

At the outbreak of World War I, sixteen-year-old Alexandra wants to train as a nurse, but her father and oldest brother, Edgar, believe she is weak and incapable. They are both suspicious and hostile toward her ability to see the deaths of those around her.

Edgar soon joins the fight in France as an officer. Before long Tom, Alexandra's other brother, enlists in the army as a private and follows Edgar across the Channel.

Alexandra struggles with accepting her visions and constantly suppresses them so that she can be seen as normal. Father reluctantly agrees to allow Alexandra to train as a nurse, all the while expecting her to fail. Meanwhile, Alexandra has been reading a collection of Greek myths and sees the parallel between her life and that of Cassandra in The Illiad.

Alexandra sees Tom's death on the battlefield and runs away to France, in an attempt to take control of her visions and stop Tom's death. Alexandra, who is travelling as a nurse, is assigned to a treatment station for injured soldiers where she is constantly barraged by death and the horrors of war. She soon meets Hoodoo Jack, a young soldier whose shares her ability to accurately foretell death. He uses his role as a battlefield messenger to help Alexandra find Tom's division on the Front. Jack and Alexandra must race against time to get to Tom before her vision comes true.

The class structure and accepted system of proper behavior for young women that existed in World War I England make it an intriguing setting for the classic teenage themes of:

* Rejection based on things beyond our control

* Struggles with self-image

* Gaining acceptance by denying parts of yourself

* Trying to bear the responsibility for fixing a poor family life

* Strong desire to positively impact the lives of those around you

Running throughout The Foreshadowing is also the idea that war and death have no purpose. The causes of World War I or motivations for a soldier to fight (apart from a desire for excitement and adventure) are never addressed.

The plot of The Foreshadowing also contains a few inconsistencies in logic. For example, while Alexandra has visions of the deaths of the soldiers she is treating at the camp, she is expressing frustration about not knowing who to help first because she doesn't know who will survive. Logically, if she has seen an imminent death, she knows that soldier is beyond her help.

Overall, The Foreshadowing is a fast-paced book that is difficult to put down. Sedgwick makes use of a unique style, counting down chapters backwards that culminate in Alexandra's realization and acceptance of herself as a whole person.

I would recommend this book as a solid vehicle for introducing young teens to historical fiction, especially those who already enjoy modern gothic fiction.

It was my first read by this author, and he blew me away with his writing as well as the story. My twelve-year-old daughter begged me to read it, and once I started I quickly realized I wasn't going to regret it.

This book was not just well written but also a great story that will keep you turning the pages. I wasn't quite sure how old Jack was but would have loved to see him and Alexandra end up together. What an amazing story, one that will leave you pondering, and all fuzzy inside. Definitely one I'll never forget.

Placed in both England and France, this book tells the story of Alexandra Fox and her amazing ability to see death before it happens. Alexandra has two older brothers, Edgar and Thomas. When World War, I breaks out, Edgar joins the army and fights in France. Thomas, however, decides that he wants to be a doctor. His father, a doctor himself, disagrees and insists that Thomas join the army. Edgar soon is killed in France, an event Alexandra saw in a vision. Thomas leaves medical school and joins the army after this. Thomas is Alexandra's favorite brother, and she is closer to him, so she is frightened when one night she sees his death. She decides to do something about it, to change what may happen to Thomas. Read this book to find out what Alexandra goes through to save her brother's life.

For any of those kids out there who think war is fun and filled with heroics, this title will be a "must read." The horror, the stupidity of it all surrounds the short chapters like barb wire, with the premonitions of Sasha's offering only modest glimpses of surcease. Chapters are mercifully short, but the story is unrelenting in its examination of fate vs. free will, with the question of what is future, what is past, always lurking. The chapters go from 101 down to 1, reminding the reader that it may all not be destiny, after all.