Book Review: Blacklands

Knight Ridder/Tribune

The title of Belinda Bauer's debut novel, "Blacklands," refers to an area in southwest England that is relatively unknown. Exmoor abuts the Bristol Channel on a thrust of land that looks like it's broken off from the island nation. The landscape is rife with grass and heather moorlands, and while the climate is temperate, it's also rainy.

Johnny Ring

Belinda Bauer says her novel is a "coming-of-age tale with a twist."

Bauer, whose uncle once ran a pub in the area, was struck by how quickly the conditions around Exmoor could change, and how fast a person could get lost.

"The mist comes down so fast in that place, it's really scary," Bauer says. "You can be on the top of a hill, and even without the mist, you can turn around once and completely lose your way to get back down. It's quite a frightening experience; we're so used to living in cities with signposts everywhere."

That backdrop perfectly suits the story Bauer has crafted: alternately endearing and creepy. Steven Lamb is 12, lives with his single mother, younger brother and grandmother, their lives disjointed and ravaged by grief. The specter of his uncle, Billy Peters, who disappeared when he was a year younger than Steven, hangs over the family. His grandmother especially is tormented because Billy's body was never found.

It's probable Billy was murdered by Arnold Avery, a convicted serial killer who admitted to abducting children in the Exmoor area. Steven researches the murders, finds the connection to Avery and starts to write anonymous letters to the inmate, who has been in prison for 20 years. A dialogue ensues, with the parties using the letters to further their own interests.

While the book is being cast as mystery, Bauer says "I always thought of it as a coming-of-age novel with a twist. That's how I still think of it."

The book's genesis came when Bauer, who has worked as a journalist and a screenwriter, heard an interview with a mother whose son was murdered. She started to wonder how that kind of loss would affect her.

"Once I invented Steven as the conduit to tell the story, everything fell into place," she says.

Steven is remarkably drawn; his insecurities and insights will ring true with anyone who knows a child of that age. Bauer still vividly remembers her own feelings and emotions at 12.

"I was very much aware of how I never wanted to leave being that age," she says. "It really hurt me every time I had a birthday. I still look back and think about it, really wistfully. Although great things have happened to me as an adult, part of me will always be that age."

Depicting the depravity of Avery was another challenge, but not in the way one might think. Colleagues and readers told Bauer they were creeped out by her portrayal of the unsavory character. But the author herself was not affected while writing about his ghastly exploits.

"I've always had the ability to step out straight into some else's shoes," Bauer says. "Even when I'm in the middle of an argument with somebody, I can see their point of view. Once I realized that Avery doesn't think that he's doing anything wrong, then it was very easy for me step into his shoes and be on his side."

The book has created some controversy in England. While Bauer has received many glowing reviews, she's also been the recipient of what she terms "vicious" comments via online forums because of the book's supposed graphic nature.

"At first I was very upset because I took great pains not to make things graphic," she says, "but to suggest things, to allude to things, but not to be explicit. Then I realized I can't control what people imagine in their heads when they read the words on the page. In one way, that's my job, to put pictures in people's heads. If they imagine something that's not there, I can't blame them for reacting to that."

Bauer also suspect that some readers are upset that she's deigned to write about a man who molests and kills children. But one of her friends who is a parent had the opposite reaction.

"She was vehement about the fact that she thought the book should be read by children," Bauer says. "She thought this is the kind of thing kids need to understand, that they can get in so much trouble by not revealing what they're doing, by holding on to secrets, by making connections. These are the kinds of things that people are worried about their children doing. I don't feel that it's a book that can't be read by teenagers: I think it's a book young people would enjoy."

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Copyright 2012 by Knight Ridder/Tribune