Whispers in the Alders

Whispers in the Alders by author H A Callum is a great book. The two main characters are well developed as well as the plot.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of Whispers in the Alders in exchange for honest opinions.

"We came from different worlds, but here we were misery enjoying company. Our common suffering at home was the bridge that gapped the social distance between us. In the end, we were both two misbegotten children thrown to parents who could have cared less about us, except for the fact that we had had the audacity to circumvent the plans they imagined for their lives."

Are you kidding me? Who writes like that?

This book is To Kill a Mockingbird for a new generation. Yep. I said it.
There's only one difference, H.A. Callum is a far superior writer. Yep. I said that, too.

Simply said, this coming of age story is a work of art. Perhaps that is due to the fact Callum is not only a novelist but a poet as well. With his breathtakingly eloquent, and yes, poetic prose, he has breathed life into the pages of this story the likes of which most writers failingly strive their entire lives to achieve.

This book is as beautiful as it is tragic, featuring a pair of teenagers, Aubrey and Tommy, from different sides of the tracks that develop a relationship that not only transcends the insurmountable obstacles they both face, but it propels them to find a way to escape their circumstances, with each finding strength in the other that they never knew they had and most likely would have never found without the other.

This story is so exquisitely written that I found myself pausing to re-read many passages, multiple times in fact, until I had them committed to memory, in complete awe of the emotions the author was able to draw from me with only a few words, placed perfectly in a sequence that left me breathless.

Here's one of my favorite passages as relayed by Aubrey while Tommy reads her a poem he wrote:

"His eyes were the lungs to his soul; they breathed in each word and brought life to them as they danced across his lips."

If that's not sigh worthy then I must be ignorant of the definition.

I strongly recommend this book as it is a master class in mellifluousness the likes of which one rarely comes across, if ever.


I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautifully tragic book. This was a love story between Aubrey and Anton, Bree and Tommy. This was a coming of age story but so much more. Please do not put it aside thinking that is all it is. Mr. Callum loved each and everyone of his characters, the good the bad and the ugly, and presented them to the reader to embrace. The story was so well laid out that the reader can almost imagine the author ending his writing day feeling a bit bittersweet as his story and characters grew. He held nothing back to in his writing and I frequently found myself rereading a paragraph or phrase, not because I had skimmed it the first time but because, just like the peace Bree and Tommy found in the alders, I felt the same in Mr. Callum's writing.

"Our rejection by everyone else drew us together. No matter what the people around us did to make us feel different towards one another, our compassion for each other's predicament prevent that split from occurring."

Isn't that the level of friendship everyone strives for? True understanding? Unbreakable acceptance? While this story is heartbreaking and beautiful, it does include some violence and child abuse. It was not included lightheartedly but should be noted for those that might be avoiding the subjects. However, despite these unpleasant topics, the book is well worth reading.

Great book - well written. Story is based around 2 characters. Not a bad book all round. Thank you to both NetGalley and Sunbury Press Inc for giving me the opportunity to read Whispers in the Alders in exchange for my honest unbiased review.