I would like to thank Orion for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher - Orion Fiction

Published - Out Now

Price - £20 hardback £9.99 Kindle eBook

Have you ever felt invisible?

Bernie Moon has given her life to other people: her husband, her son, her friends (who are these days, mostly online). At nineteen she was full of dreams and ambitions; now almost fifty, and going through the menopause, she's fading, fast. Heartbroken and hormonal, she often feels like she's losing her mind.

But when a young woman is murdered in a local park, it sparks a series of childhood memories in Bernie and with them, a talent that has lain dormant most of her adult life.

She promised herself she'd never think of it again. When she was a teenager, it almost destroyed her. But now she's older, could it be the power she's been missing?

Could it be the chance to, finally, make them look?

Fantasy and Horror often get accused of just being escapism. ‘You’re hiding from the real world!’ may be something we’ve all heard at some point in our lives! Not surprisingly I hugely disagree. I think all stories reflect back at us our world - it’s, past, present and potential futures and explore our feelings about this. I was absolutely stunned by Joanne Harris’ excellent Broken Light which delivers a blisteringly accurate reflection of our world and in particular being a woman and how that feels in our. Urgent society. It carried timely messages for all of us.

Bernie Moon is nearing fifty; married and a mother of one; works in a small struggling bookshop and generally ignored by the world. Everything is settled and she accepts it. Until the menopause begins and releases an ability Bernie had forgotten about for nearly thirty years. Bernie can touch minds, see people’s hidden thoughts and personalities and if necessary change them. What was a fun childhood game has a darker side and in a world where many men see women as prey or a threat Bernie finds that temptation to use her powers growing. But it also makes Bernie question who she has been thinking she herself is. Bernie Moon will never be the same woman again.

I was blown away reading this book. Harris has created a novel that covers 1980s childhoods, 1990s college years and most of all this last decade and how women see themselves and how wider society sees and treats them. Bernie’s voice told via her journal captures someone re-working themselves out, experiencing shame at how her body is; the pressure of social influencers saying how she should really feel and a distant husband and estranged son who seem to constantly ignore her. We get to understand Bernie from her telling us about her childhood; being considered the weird child at school, a loner, a teenager mother to the shame of her family and then just a wife as a role she is now forever expected to play. She’s been trying to fit what people say she should be to please them. It’s how not enough. But Harris adds a different and important dimension to the tale. Bernie’s gift of mind reading and to change minds is also reappearing with the menopause and that’s allowing her to see what people really think. It gives her the strength to start being who she wants to be.

The mind-reading element of the plot allows Harris to expand the story from one family to pretty much all of our world. This starts with Bernie witnessing the hallowing murder of a woman in a park and violence and experiencing constant toxic attitudes to women that make up a huge part of the plot. Bernie meets a casual friend of her husband named Jimmy who she discovers drugs women on dates. Stopping him creates a running plot of Jimmy’s behaviour afterwards; he knows something strange has happened but not sure what and becomes an online incel creating a conspiracy theory about feminists are trying to destroy men. One that grows followers, hashtags and even support from certain alleged feminist groups that very clearly have their own ideas of what a women is. Harris in this strand explores this ongoing current in our society and the use of social media rows, below the line comments and causal sexism all ring true for anyone online. But Harris also explores how women themselves feel and how attitudes are changing. There is a truly positive and heart-warming set of scenes as Bernie discovers she can actually make friends and a small running club gives her an insight into many different definitions of what being a woman can be - body-positive, trans and queer women that do not fit the glossy instas that Bernie’s social influencer of choice ( the deliciously named DeeDee LaDouce) loves to portray from a perfect lifestyle she endlessly gushes about. Bernie dares to enjoy herself; go out with friends and share experiences. She re-finds her voice. These two worlds are the current ends of the spectrum around women’s place in society that our world is sliding around and inevitably the two cross paths. A key plotline is the young woman Bernie saved from Jimmy - Iris also discovers Bernie’s abilities and encourages her to change men’s minds to prevent future harm. But this skill is difficult and there are unexpected side effects not just for Bernie that keep having unforeseen repercussions for those changed and those around them. The reader notes that Bernie’s entries are all marked as evidence and we fear a countdown to a tragic event just lies around the corner. Harris has not just the horror of sexism but the feeling Bernie’s ever increasing powers could eventually be her undoing.

I also liked how Harris explores that sexism isn’t simply from the very obvious incel that Jimmy represents. We see the casual ignorance Bernie’s husband Martin has imposed on things like division of labour at home; digs at weight and exercise and how he will stand up for his friend even when he says horrible things. Harris makes the point as Bernie gazes into men’s souls this is very much society constantly creating these attitudes but men also rarely look at themselves to counteract this behaviour. This makes scenes a sobering experience but a very important one - have men always stood up when we should have?. Another narrator is Bernie’s schoolfriend and now constant rival in her mind Kate Hemsworth who also writes her biography after the event this book is hurtling towards. She on the surface has the perfect life Bernie dreams and yet she mirrors Bernie as under the surface she too is not happy and carries so many secrets she fears revealing for how this will change how people see her. Finally understanding her underlines how men’s thoughtless actions can have repercussions for decades to come and that not monsters are easy to spot.

In Broken Light Harris creates a tale that skilfully can be funny, heart-warming, terrifying and tragic and in that respect reflects our own world back at us. The accuracy of our online and real world conflicts and attitudes is razor-sharp in its depiction and Harris’ commentary is spot on. This is a novel to enjoy but also make you think. Like Bernie are we holding ourselves back from being the best person we can be? How can we do better? Stories that make me think after reading them are always the best kind and I think Bernie Moon will stay with me for a very long time and you too should meet her. Definitely one of my reads of the year and strongly recommended!