Matt McAvoy Book Review

Hugely accomplished work, by an author I’m coming to know as eloquent, intellectual and highly knowledgeable.  Caught Between Worlds is an insightful and informative coming-of-age drama, which is bittersweet, understated and melancholy, to the point of feeling a touch bleak at times.  Yet even though there is a feeling of mental (and perhaps even tangibly physical) coldness when reading it, ultimately there is also warmth – the kind which only comes from thoughts of “home”.

A real cultural eye-opener, as the youthful cast weigh their future options (or lack thereof) in a small Alaskan town so remote that supplies are brought in by plane, and a storm shuts down the whole place.  Whilst interested in a world they call “Outside”, they are understandably afraid of the size of it, and of strangers, but perhaps even more so of becoming fishermen and packers like their own parents and neighbours.  Yet still there is the pride and heritage of their own Aleut native people to discover and embrace.

Beautifully written by Lance, who spent many years teaching in Alaska, and will be familiar with kids just like these.  This is not high drama, but slow-paced, downplayed melodrama, which offers genuine insight into the quiet and simple lives of these incredibly isolated people, in a culture relatively shared in such fiction, particularly the coming-of-age genre.  A wonderful read, to spend relaxing time without too much concern of where it is or isn’t leading.  The calming, easy-going flow of Caught Between Worlds is recommended for the more contemplative reader.