Connecting will change everything…
Lennox is a troubled teenager with no family. Ava is eight months pregnant and fleeing her abusive husband. Heather is a grieving mother and cancer sufferer. They don’t know each other, but when a meteor streaks over Edinburgh, all three suffer instant, catastrophic strokes…
…only to wake up the following day in hospital, miraculously recovered.
When news reaches them of an octopus-like creature washed up on the shore near where the meteor came to earth, Lennox senses that some extra-terrestrial force is at play. With the help of Ava, Heather and a journalist, Ewan, he rescues the creature they call ‘Sandy’ and goes on the run.
But they aren’t the only ones with an interest in the alien … close behind are Ava’s husband, the police and a government unit who wants to capture the creature, at all costs. And Sandy’s arrival may have implications beyond anything anyone could imagine…
It's such a pleasure to be hosting the blog tour for The Space Between Us today, particularly as it's publication day, Many thanks to Doug Johnstone, Orenda Books and Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me and for my advance digital cover of the novel.
Just before I read The Space Between Us, it was announced that it has been picked as one of the books to be featured on BBC's Between the Covers. I'm delighted by this news because this is a wonderfully inventive, captivating story and I hope seeing it discussed on national television will encourage more readers to perhaps step outside of their comfort zone and try something which may be unconventional but is actually so full of warmth – as well as excitement – it will surely capture the hearts of other readers as it did mine. I love science fiction but I know not everybody does and it can be a testing genre for some people; however, this is a Doug Johnstone novel and so incorporates all the characteristic elements which ensures his books are utterly compelling and imbued with compassionate perceptiveness.
The chapters alternate between four characters; Lennox, Ava, Heather and Ewan, and each of these humans have lives which are individual yet represent similar stories experienced by people the world over. The four are drawn together following an encounter which leaves three of them waking up in hospital having recovered from a massive stroke, while Ewan is a journalist who starts to investigate such an astonishing story but discovers so much more. These are lives beset by loneliness, guilt, fear and unhappiness but as the novel progresses and they embark on a journey which is emotionally life-changing as well as risky and arduous, the hope and sense of belonging which develops means The Space Between Us is poignant, thought-provoking and ultimately a beautifully uplifting read.
The extra-terrestrial life-form who is the catalyst for these characters to do something extraordinary, despite the danger they find themselves in, is named Sandy by Lennox. They are a cephalopod-like creature and almost beyond our comprehension – but Doug Johnstone uses known facts about the octopus as well as emotions and needs familiar to us all to create a being who is simultaneously incredible and relatable. There is a fitting other-worldliness to Sandy but it's impossible not to become emotionally invested in their story.
This is a moving novel but it's not short of suspenseful drama either, with a pacy, propulsive storyline and a number of determined, malevolent antagonists. The characters are constantly forced to move which sees Doug Johnstone's impeccable sense of place bringing Scotland's contrasting landscapes vividly to life, with the smallness of the country becoming almost a metaphor for Earth's place in the cosmos. The Space Between Us is a tense, charming, touching tale with a wonderful conclusion which feels more like a beginning than an ending. An intelligent, empathetic, life-affirming read; I highly recommend it.
The Space Between Us is published by Orenda Books today and can be purchased from the publisher's website, bookshop.org, Hive, Waterstones, Amazon or ordered from your favourite independent bookseller.
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