Title: Whiskey and Charlie
Author: Annabel Smith
Published: Sourcebooks Landmark April 2015
Status: Read on April 02, 2015 — I own a copy {Courtesy the publisher/Netgalley)
My Thoughts:
First published in Australia as ‘Whisky, Charlie, Foxtrot’ in 2012, Whiskey and Charlie is a moving and poignant novel, the story of identical twin brothers, Charlie and William (aka Whiskey) Ferns. Inseparable as children, rivals as teenagers and estranged as adults, their relationship is unresolved when William is badly injured in a freak accident. As Whiskey lies comatose, Charlie struggles to deal with all the things that remain unsaid between them.
“He must not die.He must not die because he, Charlie, needs more time….He had always thought there would be time”
The narrative shifts between present events and Charlie’s memories of the past, gradually unraveling the reasons for the discord between the brothers. Each chapter is headed with a call sign from the International Phonetic Alphabet, with the designation woven cleverly into the story.
Charlie is both a sympathetic and frustrating character. Having always felt inferior to his much more outgoing and confident twin, Charlie has allowed his envy and resentment to sour many aspects of his life. It isn’t until Whiskey’s accident that Charlie examines his own conscience and is forced to confront the ways in which he has failed not only his brother, but himself.
“Charlie had spent all those months trying to find evidence that Whiskey was to blame for their estrangement, looking for justifications for his refusal to forgive Whiskey, excavating the last twentyfive years of their lives in order to come to some sort of definitive conclusion – which of the them was guilty, which of them was not. At last he saw the truth was somewhere between those things, that it wasn’t all Whiskey’s fault or all his own, that at times they had both done the right thing by each other, and at other times the wrong thing, that they’d both made mistakes and both come come good in their own ways…”
Smith’s observations of the complicated relationships in her novel are astute and honest. her characters are believable, complex and vividly drawn. Emotion runs high as the characters sit vigil by Whiskey’s bedside, with the author capturing the dizzying eddy of hope, grief, guilt and fear.
A heartfelt, compelling story about love, redemption and family, the last pages brought a tear to my eye.
Available to Purchase From
Sourcebooks I Amazon US I BookDepository I IndieBound
Aus Cover
Apr 05, 2015 @ 15:55:54
I wasn’t entirely sure what this book was about, but it actually sounds like a novel I’d enjoy!
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