The Glimpse

In this dystopian novel society is rigidly divided into two classes. The ‘Pures’ live in Communities that resemble our world’s leafy boroughs. The rest of the population are termed ‘Crazies’ and live in the City. They are afflicted with one of three psychological conditions anxiety, depression or schizophrenia. Ariana Barber, known as Ana, is the daughter of the social scientist who invented the test which determines at age five where people belong in this gloomy taxonomy. If this assessment resembles the test applied by ATOS to disabled people in our world, of course the resemblance is entirely accidental.

At the age of 15, Pure girls are ‘bound’ with a boy, a binding engagement to be ‘joined’ (married) three years later. Ana is bound with Jasper Taurell, the prime catch among young Pure males. When Crazies are diagnosed, they are prescribed ‘helpful’ medication. One such drug, Benzidox, is manufactured by a company named Novastra. Jasper’s father is the boss of Novastra.

At the age of 15, Ana is overcome by a disastrous revelation. Her test result was falsified by her father. She should have been classified as a Crazy. Her case is left pending. If at the age of 18 her union with Jasper is completed, she can continue to be regarded as a Pure. But then a further disaster strikes: Jasper disappears. Ana must either set out to find him or face life as a second-class citizen, labelled a Crazy.

During this quest Ana will learn secrets that undermine her trust in the system by which society is governed, the assumptions that underlie the system, the organisations that serve society and (worst of all) her father’s role in all these dark matters. Far more severe fates await those whom the system fails than are initially admitted.

Unfortunately at key moments in the novel, the narrative loses impetus and becomes mired down in complex explanation. Readers with a less than a burning interest in social issues may lose interest and put the book aside which would be a great pity as this is a powerful allegorical novel that levels a damning criticism against our own society for its neglect and abuse of the mentally ill, its rigid class system and its deep suspicion of difference in any form. In modern societies we can see traces of comparable elitism and injustice in such fields as education, criminal justice and welfare.