Caedmon's Song

Description

247 pages
Contains Maps
$24.95
ISBN 0-670-83304-5
DDC C813'.54

Year

1990

Contributor

Reviewed by Hugh Oliver

Hugh Oliver is Editor-in-chief of OISE Press, Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education.

Review

Caedmon, allegedly the first English poet, lived in the northern fishing
town of Whitby, this novel’s setting. A woman student at a nearby
university is brutally attacked by a serial killer, and subsequently
vows to track him down and seek revenge. The story is told from two
perspectives, chapter following chapter: that of the student after the
attack, and that of a woman who arrives in Whitby on an unspecified
mission. Fairly soon, we realize that the two are the same person. Less
clear is the identity of her attacker, for, after she has killed one man
in error and mortally wounded another, the reader is left wondering
whether her third victim is simply an ogre of her fevered imagination.

This is potentially an interesting psychological study, but as yet the
author does not have the literary skills to pull it off: both his
characterization and his command of language are too superficial. For
the present, he should stick to his Inspector Banks mystery novels, in
which he seems more secure handling his characters, and in which his
limitations are of less consequence.

Citation

Robinson, Peter., “Caedmon's Song,” Canadian Book Review Annual Online, accessed February 7, 2025, https://cbra.library.utoronto.ca/items/show/10943.