The Reunion - Sue Walker

This is a very dark piece of work, delving into a world only seen by a minority. It tells the story of a group of young patients at a relatively new Institution that uses group therapy to assist in getting the patients back out into society. They are carefully selected in the hope that the differences & the similarities can aid in their rehabilitation. Needless to say the Unit didn't last much longer after this group of patients were discharged.

The novel flashes between three time periods, "that time at the Unit", the now & the recent past. It also changes perspective without notice. This is difficult to follow, and doesn't get easier as you go on.

"That time", is the term used to describe their time at the Unit, but also to describe "the event" that all of them have buried, some more successfully than others. There are hints about the specifics of "the event" & if you like to put the pieces together, you can probably catch the drift. Personally I prefer to see the whole story through.

You become more involved with the patients' histories as the novel progresses. You can see what they had to deal with, and where they've ended up in life. After a few nightmarish stories of behaviour & outbursts in the Unit, life seemed to treat them all well, until "that time" comes back to haunt them & their behaviour reverts back to that of the teenagers they once were, scared, vicious & incomprehendable to our unadjusted minds.

Not an emotional tale. More one to shock & leave you on edge as you finish the last page. The novel reads slowly with the bare minimum of "spark-your-interest" elements to keep you reading until the last page. Good for a dark, easy to read novel.

Bambola x