Story of Stone, The

Three interlocking strands form this compelling story: Nela, who is researching the past, finds a stone which enables her to catch brief but intense glimpses of the life of her people long ago; in an intermediate time Jerat and his family seek peace after the death of their old Chief; and far in the past is the mythology that has led to the current way of life of their peoples. Gradually we become aware of the parallels between the lives of Nela and Jerat, both at the pivotal age of 16 and both struggling to break the mould by breaking the conventions of their respective times. The mythological strand is woven into both stories, its impact felt most strongly by Jerat, but still evident in Nela’s time.

I was captured by each of the stories and was waiting for their gradual but inevitable linking; when it came, the fantastical element perhaps inevitably took over, which I found something of an anticlimax. However, it is an utterly absorbing read which amply repays the degree of concentration needed to tease out the strands and work out their parallels. AG