Raised in a more conservative time, Kevin grew up poor and was often mistreated by the adults in his life because of his “illegitimate” status, but managed nonetheless to achieve a reasonably successful adulthood. Still, his lack of a father was a constant hole in his life, until he finally managed to get his mother to tell him the story of their affair and his birth. Armed with that information, he set off on a quest to find his father, and after much effort, succeeded – but was not quite prepared for what happened next.
This is a touching story, told in substantial part in the voice of a child who never quite understood why he was treated as a pariah by people who didn’t even know him. The first person perspective allows us a filtered look at the people surrounding him, naturally colored by his experiences and reactions. His efforts to be fair even to the people who hurt him are obvious, and have the mildly paradoxical result of making them look even more unfair and unkind. His relationship with his mother, though, is obviously complicated, and his tone, even when he doesn’t intend to, shows a painful mix of tension, anger, grief, love and admiration that is deeply revealing.
Machell has a tendency, however, to get bogged down a bit in moralizing and even, occasionally, in what feels very much like self-pity (especially when his mother marries against his wishes). The sentences are choppy and frequently incomplete. They are also almost entirely phrased in a simple declarative form, even when an exclamation or question would be more appropriate, leading to a rather monotonous tone.
This is a valuable look back at a particular historical period and the consequences children face when they are judged on the circumstances of their birth rather than on their own actions.
Reviewed by Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader