July 31st was a huge day for one Youtuber, Luke Cutforth, who announced he was going to direct a film adaptation of Caroline Smailes' novel, 'The Drowning of Arthur Braxton'; but needed backing. As a student taking a film degree, I'm all for supporting fellow filmmakers, therefore I donated to Luke's kickstarter page for it.
But to learn more about a film I was helping to fund and why he chose this book, I decided I would have a read and see what he thought was so amazing about it. Oh my word, I'm glad I did as well.
I'm probably one of the slowest readers, to the exception of '..Arthur Braxton'. Within an hour or so I'd read the first 100 pages and was absolutely hooked.
It's a loose, modern version of Greek myths, Castor and Pollux, Medea and Jason, and Apollo and Daphne. You enter the world of a small North Welsh town in the mind of young teenage girl Laurel, taking a job to support her mother and her siblings, at old an Baths in the town called The Oracle, where people believe they can be 'healed'.
The book is split into certain characters perspectives, including Laurel, Arthur and Delphina as the main three voices we hear. Each chapter is cleverly used in different text types such as Delphina's chapters written as script text whereas Arthur's is written in colloquial speech and, like many teenage boys in Britain, nearly every other sentence has a swear word in it. (So yeah, age warning).
Years later, when we venture into Arthurs world, we realise The Oracle is on the verge of demolition, and after endless days of bullying he decides to hide out in The Oracle. Inside he meets a motley crew of characters, mystical and mesmerising.
If you know the Greek myths it features, you'll have a loose idea of the way the story may go, but the ending especially shocked me. After finishing it I was a mix of emotions, both relief and sadness overcame me, as it mentions some serious and sensitive subjects, so I believe you probably need to be above 16 to read it.
It's a quick and easy read but I found that Delphina's chapters were dragged out and there would be pages of her almost saying the same things, which I don't blame you if you skip ahead on.
Needless to say, I fully recommend this book if you are looking for a cracking British novel that mixes quite 'normal' teenager characteristics with mystical beings and sensitive but gripping topics.
