CHILDREN OF THE SUN by Beth Lewis

CHILDREN OF THE SUN

Beth Lewis (bethlewis.co.uk)

Hodder & Stoughton (hodder.co.uk)

£20

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Summer 1982. Following the death of his lover in a horrible car accident, journalist James Morrow has spent months trying to get information about what happened. A tip gives him the name of a woman – Maria – and a possible location – a cult commune deep in the Adirondacks called Atlas, and led by an enigmatic man named Sol. Pitching to his editor as a chance to get the inside story on how these groups work, following the Manson family and Jonestown, James is invited into the group to see what they’re up to first hand, and to understand what Sol’s ultimate aim is. Is it, as James suspects, a plan to kill the three-hundred-odd people who have signed up to his philosophy? Or is Sol really able to give these people back the lives they have lost?

Since Beth Lewis burst onto the scene in 2016 with The Wolf Road, she has been an author to watch. Four novels in eight years also means that a new book from this excellent writer is something of an event, something to look forward to. Her latest novel, Children of the Sun lives up to our expectations and delivers something that, as with its predecessors, blurs genre boundaries, and presents us with something unique and completely unexpected.

James Morrow’s visit to Atlas is something of an eye-opener for the young journalist. He is initially treated with suspicion and contempt, members of the group assuming he’s here to write something derogatory about the group, and to perform a character assassination on their beloved leader, Sol. As James tries to fit into the group, he discovers that the thing that holds this group together is what they call their Core – everyone has a Core; it’s that moment of their life when everything changed, usually because of the loss of a loved one. They’re all damaged in some way and all, without exception, wishing for the life that could have been. There are a group of young children, led by the precocious Root, who are treated differently from everyone else. These are the sunbeams and, it seems, Sol has a very special plan for them come the summer solstice: they will help Sol open a door to a neighbouring reality where everyone will be able to reclaim their lives. The members of Atlas seem confident that Sol will keep his promise. James is not so sure: a young girl died in an earlier experiment and the strange metal bands that are embedded in the ground of this remote camp suggests that each of the 300 members are likely to suffer the same fate if he can’t convince them that Sol’s plan is little more than folly, and dangerous at that. But like the rest of the characters, James has his own Core, and some small part of him hopes that the promised “other world” is real.

Lewis tells her story alternating between the voices of James and Root, with a third voice, Eve, running in parallel, as she tries to find the location of Atlas; she was once a member of the group, and is now trying to find her way back. The voices are distinctive, and each presents us with a different angle on the whole Atlas operation: the outsider; the child born into the group who doesn’t know anything else; the ex-member desperately seeking a way back in. Like James, we come to Children of the Sun with some skepticism, wondering what sort of con Sol is trying to pull. The more time we spend with Root, though, the more we want to believe that this charismatic – and somewhat enigmatic – leader can really do what he has promised. 

As the week progresses, James finds himself becoming drawn further and further into the group, wanting to stay for the final ceremony, and possibly even partake, while still being dubious about the whole premise. Lewis is a master plotter, giving us enough information as the novel progresses to support both points of view. Now the impossible promise that Sol has made seems very possible; now he is painted as a charlatan and we begin to fear the worst. It’s a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions, even though the story is more psychological than action-packed. Lewis makes us care for these characters and hope that they will find their promised better life. They jump off the page, becoming solid, real people as we learn about their “Cores” and what drives them onwards. 

You never know what to expect from the next Beth Lewis novel, but you can always be sure that you’ll come away feeling much better for the experience. Beautifully written, Lewis puts us directly into the heads of the key players and allows us to see several different sides of the argument. Filled with suspense, we find ourselves glued to the page, wondering who we can trust and asking ourselves how far we would be willing to go if we were in these peoples’ shoes. Lewis continues to go from strength to strength, and Children of the Sun showcases a writer who has found her stride and who is at the top of her game. The only problem is that we’ll probably have to wait two more years for the next one!