Days of Wonder by Keith Stuart

DAYS OF WONDER

by KEITH STUART

I am delighted to be on the Blog Tour for this lovely, heartfelt novel. My thanks to the publisher for inviting me to be part of the tour and for the advance copy of the book. Don't miss any other stops on the tour today! 

DAYS OF WONDER

Bibliomaniac's Review

This is indeed a story about wonder. Meet Hannah and her father and read about their days which are filled with stories, magic, hope, love and wonder. This is a story of a father trying to save his daughter and of a daughter trying to save her father. This is a story of fairy tales - not the ones we now read which are a 'neurotic delicacy of a modern translation' but the real ones, full of kids dying in forests, dwarfs being eaten by witches and all that 'horrible stuff'. Or those where the fairies are real and despite all the odds, there can be happy ending.

Days of Wonder is about Tom and Hannah. Single dad Tom runs a theatre company and lives his life through plays, living inside scripts and stories as much as he can. Hannah is suffering from a heart condition which is life threatening. Although she is a normal girl, with a wry sense of humour and plenty of artistic talent, she is also restricted by her failing health and prone to fainting fits which often occur at the most dramatic moments. There are two main plots within this novel - the threat of closure which faces the theatre and the threat to Hannah's health. The central theme of the book focusses on the relationship between Tom and Hannah as they both face these personal challenges. It's a perfect balance and the contrasting story lines ensure a pleasing balance of humour set against grief, entertainment against trauma and weave their way cleverly together in a way which helps both Tom and Hannah on their journeys.

I was immediately caught up in this novel. I really like Keith Stuart's writing style, it's conversational, entertaining, honest, unaffected and real. There is plenty of humour but it doesn't shy away from tough, emotional issues and once again, having enjoyed Stuart's first novel A Boy Made of Blocks, I am impressed with his evocation of a relationship between a father and his daughter. He has a real skill for capturing a family under pressure, who are able to face the heartache and pain they face because of their love for each other.

Tom is a great father. He's a single parent to Hannah and not like other dads because he 'always looks happy, isn't obsessed with sport and he actually listens to [Hannah's friends] when they talk.' Hannah and Tom have a relationship that will make any parent jealous. The bond between them is intense yet full of mutual respect. They tease each other, they test each other but ultimately they love each other and have a tight bond that appears unbreakable.

Tom's vocation is the theatre and there are some highly entertaining scenes from the plays performed which verge on slapstick but create a gentle, affectionate atmosphere which is perfect for a novel that seems to combine tragedy and farce with great effect. It also provides a perfect metaphor for discussing health, love, grief, friendship and the journey of life. Stuart's narrative is light, accessible, authentic and lively but there are many sentences which I consider hidden gems - sentences which are full of poignant insight and emotion.

' If I couldn't keep her safely held, that we would both fall. I felt in those seconds that everything in the world depended on my holding fast - like the final embrace at the end of a tragic scene. Because in the end, actors must always hold their positions. As the lights fall and the stage is gradually immersed into blackness, they must hold. If they don't, the illusion is shattered.'

Hannah is also a very well crafted character and her chapters, which alternate with Tom's, were as enjoyable, peppered with sarcasm and but also insight and poignancy. Hannah maybe hindered by her condition at times but she is not a victim, she does not require our pity. She is mature, vulnerable and bright. She wants to fall in love, she wants adventure - she doesn't want to hurt her father but she wants to experience life. I really felt great empathy for her and found her teenage voice completely convincing and authentic throughout the whole novel.

'It's like that scene at the end of Reservoir Dogs when they're all pointing guns at each other - except we're middle class and British so it's just a lot of unspoken anxiety'

Again the contrast between Tom's chapters and Hannah's chapters helps to keep the storyline upbeat, fluent and engaging. It also shows the different emotions of the two characters as they face problems at the hospital, problems at the theatre, problems with friends, problems in romance and try to navigate their way through life together, looking for a fairy tale that will save them both. The relationship is so tenderly drawn, so well evoked and effortlessly captures the complex dynamics, the strengths and also the fragility between them as new boundaries are challenged and they each try to seek a happy ending for the other.

This is a truly lovely read. It is about love, hope, friendship, community and the theatre. It is imaginative, humorous, heartachingly heartwarming and honest. If you like Wonder, My Sister's Keeper and One Day, you will love Keith Stuart. I highly recommend this lovely story.

Days of Wonder is published on 7th June 2018 by Sphere.

My thanks to the publisher for an advance copy of the novel.

KEITH STUART 

Keith Stuart is an author and journalist. His heartwarming debut novel, A Boy Made of Blocks, was a Richard and Judy Book Club pick and a major bestseller, and was inspired by Keith's real-life relationship with his autistic son. Keith has written for publications including Empire, Red and Esquire magazine, and is the former games editor of the Guardian. He lives with his wife and two sons in Frome, Somerset. 

KEITH STUART ON DAYS OF WONDER

Days of Wonder is a story about love, life and magic, but I hope it deals with all three of these things in unusual ways. After finishing A Boy Made of Blocks, I knew I wanted to write another novel about families in crisis, but this time with a very different set of characters – and a very different crisis. As a Manchester City supporter, I was greatly affected by the death of midfield player Marc-Vivien Foé from a rare form of cardiomyopathy. He was 28. Later, I noticed other news reports about the same heart condition, which often struck young people seemingly out of nowhere. I wondered how you would live your life as a teenager with such a serious condition. What would it take to get you through?

The obvious answer is a lot of love and support and belief and passion. As an ex-drama student who loved my time directing and acting in plays, I thought that a small local theatre would be an interesting, supportive place for my protagonist Hannah to grow up in. I loaded her life with quirky, eccentric characters and I brought in fairy tales and comic books to accentuate the value of stories and myths in our lives. I just wanted to write this big, warm, funny book about something potentially tragic. I think in a lot of ways this comes from my own experience of grief. When my dad died of cancer in 2003, my mum, my sisters and me sat around and told each other stories about his life; we swapped memories and it was almost like we created a narrative of his life - that's how we coped. Memories are the stories we tell about our lives, and I think we all – in a lot of ways - live through stories. It's love, laughter and imagination that gets you through. This is what Days of Wonder is about.