Customer Reviews

Shadows Move Among Them

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This fascinating novel takes us right into the lives of the Harmston family and their home in the South American jungle. An intriguing array of characters unfold their personalities as we follow Cousin Gregory on his visit to this strange, lovable family. The jungle itself becomes real as the reader is immersed in the sounds, sights and smells of the bush, the plants, the animals and the river. And, of course, there are the shadows which move among them! Gregory, broken in spirit, seeks healing in this tropical retreat. We find that it permeates our spirit as well. A perfect read for a hot August weekend!

The writing is so beautiful in its descriptions, taking the reader right into the jungle, that I sought and read other books by the same author. Unhappily, I failed to find any with such extraordinary lyrical power. I reread this one on a regular basis, usually in the heat of the summer.

I cannot believe this book had been out of print. I came across this thought-provoking and entertaining novel by looking up books written by guyanese writers.

Gregory Hawke is man in crisis. His relationship with work, his wife and his mother have pushed into him into becoming a shadow of the person he really is or ought to be. This crisis pushes him into looking for a safe place far from what is known as civilization in order to get better. This place is located in the guyanese jungle near the banks of the Berbice river.

This place is run by his aunt and her husband, the reverend Harmston, who is also in charge of a community of guyanese natives. However, Gregory finds himself in a community where he does not know what "civilized" and "savage" mean anymore. At times, Gregory does not even know what is "real" and "fake".

Linguistically rich and descriptive, Edgar Mittelhölzer's novel narrates Gregory's struggle, along with that of the reader's, at trying to discern what lies beyond these four concepts. Life and society's dogmas are put on trial in this novel in a very unorthodox way that it never becomes preachy or academic, but, on the contrary, entertaining and even funny at times.

Olivia, one of Gregory's cousin, is one of those characters that you hate to love and love to hate, for she can be both nerve-racking and charismatic during the entire novel.

All in all, "Shadows Move Among Us" is a book full of clever twists, very well developed characters and an exotic setting that comes alive on every page.