Writer Claire North takes the scope of such stories as Benjamin Button, Groundhog Day, time-travel and the ability to live forever, and puts a pin straight through it all in her novel The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August.
An exciting and nuanced idea, North poses the question: what if every time you died, you went back to the beginning of your life and had to start it all over again? You’d have the memories of an adult in a child’s body; ‘my five-year-old mind (pushing ninety-seven)’ and, like the butterfly effect, the lives of those around you would alter with each new piece of information being used for the next rerun. As a result, each of your lives has a multitude of directions, whilst still having the trappings of others e.g. war, family etc.
For Harry August it’s a nightmarish dream, but at least he’s not alone, for there are others like him spread across the generations – past, present and future – who are trapped in reliving their lives over and over again. Although what they make of it and what direction they take is up to them – just as some may be good friends in one life, they can be enemies in another, and worse, pass a death sentence that will last.
Think this was enough? Well North certainly didn’t think so, for Harry’s life becomes even more complex when future generations pass a message back in time – the world is ending and they don’t know why. But as Harry relives his lives, he begins to suspect the cause, the who, and eventually the why. The book evolving into a battle of wits, cunning and cruelty.
Merging history, philosophy, physics, psychology, and ethics, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is a real adventure – and a little bit of a headache – offering a hundred different directions to wander off to. However, at its epicentre is Harry’s journey of self-discovery as he tries to stop the world from ending.
Trapped within this inward reflection of time, Harry searches for answers as to why he keeps repeating his life; exploring biology, physics, parentage and religion, while at the same time showing us the different paths his lives have taken. However, the writing is strongest and most enjoyable when it sticks to just one of Harry’s lives or switches back and forth between only two of them, any more than this and it becomes difficult to put a finger as to where you are in the story, which could be a deliberate intention so as to feel Harry’s early disjointedness.
When starting this book it’s best not to try to keep hold of all the tantalising titbits thrown at you, the short lengths of the first few chapters helping to guide you as to what really needs to be remembered, while most of the other points are made clearer not long after. However, a few simple pages early on in the book would serve as a much-needed break between the more complex elements, although the story soon finds its rhythm and settles down into a more comfortable pace and pattern in which to explore the implications, actions and greyness of people. For example, is it right to kill a killer before they’ve actually killed? Enjoying such questions, the book also examines (if only for a few brief paragraphs) the possible re-births of Harry August and others; is it a working paradox? A series of parallel universes? Or something else? Seeming like a series of sci-fi questions it never fully steps into this genre, but lingers on a series of possibilities – the temptation to know the answer being what leads the characters on.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is at times dark; drug addiction, torture and the horrific misunderstandings of mental illness in the early 20th century, and of Harry’s own personal torment. Gripping in its read, it’s also rather unsettling – Harry’s never able to rest from an overbearing sense of duty – one that shadows and guides his choices. Overwhelmed by its suspense, the temptation to skip ahead is almost unbearable – the ending feeling so uncertain; will the good guy win? Is he even good?
Written in the first person-narrative, it occasionally slips in the word ‘you’. This doesn’t feel like it’s directed at the reader but at someone within the book – moving from a generalisation to becoming personal – the answer revealed only at the end. Nothing is given away by North and you’ll have to keep reading to find out the answers. In the first quarter, many of the chapters are left with cliff-hangers – which are eventually returned to – but it makes the book a bit like a juggling act in keeping everything in place.
Set in the heart of the 20th century, it still includes technological advancements of the 21st, and a quick mention of civilisations’ earliest recordings. Following humanity’s quick progress to the detriments of it. From page one, the concept and delivery of the book is exciting; having the ability to change things in your life, whilst knowing certain events can never be changed e.g. WW2. Highly informative and incredibly researched, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August will take you away to a history not long past, whilst breathing fresh energy, and a new perspective thanks to the lives of Harry August.
Other Notable Works by Claire North:
- The Gameshouse
+ The Master 2015 (3)
+ The Thief 2015 (2)
+ The Serpent 2015 (1)
Book Edition Information:
Publisher: Orbit (imprint of Little Brown Book Group)
ISBN: 978-0-356-50258-8
Cover Design: Sophie Burdess – LBBG/Getty/Shutterstock
Presented Edition: 2014 Paperback
Background image courtesy of Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash
