This fantastic novel consists of four interconnecting parts, linked by the ever present theme of spirals, a shape which has existed since the beginning of time and is (in its three dimensional form) the very path the Earth tracks through space. Each has a different focus character on the brink of a great discovery or change, and this allows the book to also explore human desire to find out and explore. The four sections can, according to the introduction, be read in any order and still make sense, though a 'different sense'. In the book, they are presented in chronological order as the idea of the spiral moves through time.
The first quarter is written in free verse, and is about a girl in the Stone Age who, fascinated by the spirals in snail's shells, is on the verge of discovering writing. The second is about a young woman called Anna in the Middle Ages, who is accused of witchcraft after the death of her healer mother. The third focuses on a man who works as a doctor in a sinister insane asylum, with one patient who seems more sane than the rest of them combines, apart from his terror of spirals.
This patient, Dexter, is particularly memorable character, for his unusual and quirky ideas, like writing a novel in his head. He also makes me wonder whether his fear of the spiral is really that unfounded…
Finally, the last quarter tells the story of a man working as a caretaker on a ship travelling through space at the speed of light to reach a New Earth, after humans destroyed the last one. This quarter also makes the link between the parts much clearer.
All these tales are excellent in their own right, but their combination makes for a gripping and beguiling novel which I could not recommend highly enough! It's very thought-provoking, without it seeming like a forced attempt at 'deepness' which is something I really hate. It is a book which I still have to ponder what it was about, since there are so many possible conclusions to draw about the symbolism of the spiral, especially since so many of the stories had endings very open to interpretation.
I loved how it spanned so many genres, from a science text-book introduction, to verse, to historical, to… I don't even know what the third part would classify as, to sci-fi? Though this sounds odd, and is certainly very unusual, for me it really worked and was symbolic as to how the spiral can span everything.
All in all, a fantastic book which I really enjoyed both reading and thinking about, and one which, although hard to explain, is a must read for everyone!
• Buy this book at the Guardian Bookshop.
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