CHILDREN'S LITERATURE : Solace of the Road By Siobhan DowdDavid Fickling Books, 261pp. £10.99
IT IS THE eve of her 15th birthday and Holly Hogan has decided to run away – to run away, that is, from the succession of care centres and foster homes in which she has spent long periods of her childhood. She intends to make her way from Tooting Bec in London, where she is currently being fostered by a couple called Ray and Fiona Aldridge, to Ireland; here she hopes to be reunited, after a time of separation, with her mother. As if to symbolise the move to this new phase in her life, she gives herself a new name – the “Solace” of the title – and dons a blonde wig which she has come across while “rooting around” in the Aldridge household. The journey begins.
Dowd's novel is, in large part, concerned with the details of this journey, following Holly as she progresses towards Fishguard, intending to catch the ferry to Rosslare. The narrative is structured as a series of encounters she has on the way, starting with her meeting with Chloe, an Oxford student, on the bus taking her away from London. Chloe, it happens, is reading Tacitusand brings to Holly's attention his references to the place called Thule, a destination which has come to represent all those places we long to visit. At this particular moment, Holly's Thule is, of course, Ireland, where dreams and destination, she tells herself, will coalesce. The novel's moves between anticipation and realisation, often triggered by the inclusion of subtle and poignant snatches of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart's Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), provide its central theme.
The various circumstances to which her journey introduces her afford Holly the opportunity to display her determination, her initiative, her sense of humour and, once or twice, her cunning. They also afford the opportunity for a sequence of engaging pen portraits of those whom she meets along the road, whether they be Phil, a vegan truck driver, with a consignment of cheese, or Kirk – “Addams Family meets Jack the Ripper” – another trucker, but this time with a consignment of pigs. There are, certainly, some threatening moments but, overall, Holly’s new acquaintances fully deserve the “guardian angel” description she accords them later. The contrast between her experiences here and what we learn gradually, via a series of flashbacks, of her earlier life with her mother and with Denny, her mother’s boyfriend, could hardly be more telling: the full revelations, when they come, are genuinely shocking, a nightmare to set against the dream.
This is Siobhan Dowd's fourth novel and, following her tragically early death in 2007 at the age of 47, her second (and final) posthumous title. It is, in many respects, her strongest work, exhibiting in rich variety the blend of qualities which characterise her earlier books, A Swift Pure Cry, The London Eye Mysteryand Bog Child: a powerful sense of story, a sympathetic insight into life's unpredictability and a perceptive and compassionate understanding of the young, especially those in need of a little solace along the road.
Robert Dunbar is a commentator on children’s books and reading