The Body in the Clouds
In Ashley Hay’s debut novel, The Body in the Clouds (published in the US following The Railwayman’s Wife), she attempts to weave together one event which happens in three separate times, all centering around the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia. This event involves the real Roy Kelly, who fell from the bridge and survived. The three points of view are comprised of an astronomer from the 1700s, a bridge worker from the 1930s, and a 21st-century expatriate banker who returns home to visit his dying grandfather. All three observers are transformed by this one magical event.
While many writers can easily shift between points of view, it becomes more difficult when the shift also includes a time change. I found moving from Dawes, the real-life early astronomer, to Ted, the builder in the ´30s, to Dan, the current-day banker, difficult. Each story unfolds slowly, almost laboriously, which makes the shifting more challenging.
This book is also about stories and their power to make sense of our lives. As Gramps says, everyone has a story and must protect his/her own. Even though we may borrow or even steal elements of someone else’s story, we must never lose sight of our own. The repetition of the “story” idea becomes a bit tedious, leaving the reader somewhat battered about the head.
