The Bellwether Revivals - Benjamin Wood

‘I’m not sure it’s possible to be exceptional without being a bit abnormal too. Goes with the territory.'

Oscar Lowe has escaped a humdrum life to create his own contented and independent existence away from his family in Watford, something that was more important to him at that time than continuing his education. Nevertheless he is a bright and inquisitive young man, living amongst the Cambridge colleges but outside of their world.

He meets Iris Bellwether one evening as he listens to the music coming from King’s College. Iris lights up his own world and what’s more, she opens up access to such a different world from his own. Oscar works at Cedarbrook, a nursing home in Cambridge where his good friendship with one of the residents, Dr Paulsen, has enlightened his reading and also is destined to introduce him to someone from his past who will have a key role to play the lives of Oscar and his new friends.

The wealth and privilege enjoyed by beautiful Iris, her clever but troubled brother Eden and their friends contrasts with Oscar’s experiences; he is drawn to them all, but feels they have a shared experience of the past that excludes him at times; ‘They were like a family. They called each other pet names…He had never been a s close to anyone as they were with each other.’

For Iris, time spent with Oscar is an escape from everything else in her life, the demands of her parents, her brother’s behaviour. She likens being with him to listening to the choir at King’s College; ‘They just relax me so much, I feel as if I’m free…I feel the same way with you, Oscar.’

The tension builds in the story as we learn more about Iris and Eden, and we wonder to what extent Eden will take his desire and need to prove the skills he believes he possesses, involving the others in his experiments too. Eden encapsulates the idea of genius that is not without a hint of madness. Iris tells Oscar that Eden needs ‘to feel power over everyone. It’s what sustains him.’ There is a temptation though to believe in the abilities that Eden professes to have; ‘trusting in things that seem like madness.’ Could there be any truth in his claims?

It’s enthralling to read on and be part of the events that the friends are involved in, to follow the development of the story and the relationships.

One of the major themes in the novel is music, and the power of music to move and affect people. Eden’s dramatic playing of the organ is vividly described:

‘This was an energetic music, angry and contagious, something feverish and knife-sharp. It was music like gushing water, like frantic animals being herded on a hillside, like all of the conversations in the world being spoken at once, like an ocean prising itself apart, like two great armies converging on each other.’

The Bellwether Revivals is a captivating and intelligent debut novel. In some ways it reminded me of The Secret History by Donna Tartt, a book I love. I loved the Cambridge, Grantchester and Watford settings, the ideas discussed in the story, the closeness of the group of friends, and the looming sense of danger ahead. A thought-provoking and worthwhile read. 

Published by Simon & Schuster

You can find the author on twitter @bwoodauthor and on his website here.

Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read and review a copy of this novel.