Space Hopper by Helen Fisher #BookReview

The blurb …

‘As much as I love and need my husband, over the past few months I’ve realised something important. I can’t tell Eddie what’s been happening, no matter how much I want to. Not because he won’t believe me, but because he might.

And if Eddie believes me, he’ll try to stop me’.

Faye knows she is lucky. She has two beautiful daughters, a caring husband, close friends. The only thing that is missing is her mother, Jeanie, who died a long time ago. It is a loss that Faye feels ever more keenly as her own children grow older. Although her grief is always there, she has learned to keep it locked away.

And then something extraordinary happens, something that might allow her to speak to her mother again.

Faced with the chance to finally ask her mother all the questions she never could, Faye finds it impossible to let go of the past and live in the present. But does she really need to choose between the two? If making that choice means saying a final goodbye to her mother, Faye will try anything to hold on to both.

My thoughts …

‘Take my hand and jump with me’

I was thrilled to receive an early copy of Space Hopper, which is Simon & Schuster’s lead debut for 2021 and I can see why because I loved it!

The whole concept of this book really piqued my interest, imagine having the chance of going back in time to see a loved one, to talk to them, to tell them things you wished you had said or to get answers to your questions. A lot of us would give anything to do that and it really did tug at my heartstrings right from the blurb.

Briefly, the main character in this book is thirty-eight year old Faye who tells her story directly to the reader and her narrative was quite unlike anything I’ve read before, so incredibly poignant. Faye’s mum passed away when she was eight-years-old leaving a huge whole in Faye’s life. One day she’s looking through her attic and, as she steps into an old Space Hopper box, she is transported back to Christmas 1977, when she was six and her mum was still alive. Here begins her adventure into time travel. She then finds herself torn between two worlds because she is desperate to find out more about her beloved long lost mother but at the same time terrified of not making it back to her husband and daughters.

In the present day Faye’s husband, Eddie, is training to become a member of the clergy and it was such a powerful theme of the book that Faye was struggling to understand his calling and unwavering belief in God, but would he believe in her travels to the past, it was such an interesting exploration of faith and belief.

I think this is one of the most meaningful and insightful books I have read for a long time. Insightful as to feelings of loss and grief but also in relation to Faye’s best friend Louis who is blind. The author used to work for the RNIB and her experience shines through in Louis’ character and really made me think about what it’s like to be blind from birth, it really was amazing to read about how Louis ‘sees’ the world and I thought he was a wonderful character.

In fact all the characters were brilliant and the interactions and dialogue between them was so natural at one point I felt that I was actually sat with Faye and her husband having drinks and playing cards it was so convincing, while others left me covered in goosebumps they were so realistic.

As the story progresses it becomes more intense and I was glued to the book eager to find out how things would pan out for Faye. I had my theories and they were all wrong, but let me just say that the ending left me open mouthed, it was fantastic and I highly recommend pre-ordering a copy!

About the author …

Helen Fisher spent her early life in America, but grew up mainly in Suffolk where she now lives with her two children. She studied psychology at Westminster University and Ergonomics at UCL and worked as a senior evaluator in research at RNIB. Space Hopper is her first novel.

You can follow Helen on Instagram @helenfisher_author and Twitter @HFisherAuthor

Thank you so much to Jess Barrett at Simon & Schuster for my gifted copy.

Thanks for reading!

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