Before The Fire

An impressive and unusual first novel by Leslie Retallick, whose previous publications have all concerned the history and buildings of Torquay. His knowledge of the town underpins this novel which might, technically, be classified as science fiction, but it feels nothing like it. It is set in Torquay in the Aprils of two different years: 1898 and a year in the second decade of the twenty-first century; but the realistic sense of place and the lively, natural and often amusing dialogue allow the reader to feel equally at home in both years. Sixteen-year-old Matt and his uncle, Connor, whose 'own time' is ours, find themselves 'flipping' backwards and forwards between these two Aprils, while remaining in the same location on the edge of Torquay. In 1898 they become involved with a wealthy widow, Maria Debbon, and her three children, endangered by political scheming in connection with their family origins. Connor and Matt form emotional attachments to Maria and her elder daughter Helen respectively - relationships which are handled with insight and delicacy. The event at the heart of the novel - the destruction by fire of the Debbons' mansion on the night of 29th-30th April 1898 - has affinities with the burning of two other literary mansions: Thornfield Hall in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre and Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (also a West Country novel). Without making it explicit, Before The Fire offers a subtle and ingenious answer to the question: If we could go back in time, could we change the past? The book has forty-three black-and-white illustrations, mainly positioned between chapters. Some were created by the author; others are his photographs of Torquay today; but the majority are from his extensive collection of old photographs and postcards of Torquay.