The Shadow in the Wind
Reviewed By Ian Banks July 18, 2019
Author Lazaros Zigomanis
Distributor: Busybrid Publications
ISBN: 978-0-6484789-0-4
Publisher: Busybird Publications
Release Date: April 2019
Website: https://www.busybird.com.au
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Keene’s life is changing very quickly and he really can’t understand why things are like they are. Mum is in the spare room, hooked up to a bag that helps her feel better and Dad is very worried.
His Mum is getting thinner and thinner and he truly begins to believe that something other than a ‘darkness inside her’ is responsible. Keene is almost seven years old and it is a lot for a little kid to sort out.
He believes it is because a very special pendant they gave his Mum was lost and that has caused the darkness to arrive; so he takes into his mind to go out and try and find the pendant, because, he thinks, once it is found and Mum has it back again, she will get better.
Keene and his trusty companion Bunch, his beloved Border Collie, set out to try and find the pendant. Danger as well as magic lays in wait for them, as they make their way through the bush very carefully, so Dad won’t see them and call him back.
The further they walk into the bush, the stormier the night becomes, with the trees whispering and then roaring at them to go back, go back; but Keene is not listening, he is on very important business. He realises that perhaps he and Bunch could maybe have waited until the weather was better.
Beautifully and sensitively constructed, The Shadow in the Wind is a story of many layers dealing with life, acceptance, grief and sorrow through the eyes of a small child who will not give up on hope and miracles, but sadly has to accept that some things simply cannot be changed.
Keene is a character who has come to life in beautiful, hopeful, form, who now has a future learning to move on without his Mum, so look out for the next novella from Lazaros Zigomanis when we meet up with Keene and his family once again.
At the end of the book there is an excellent section on ‘questions for discussion’, based on the storyline and the very real aspect of people dealing with these issues every day.