Vigil
Nadia Wheatley

Penguin Books:
YA Fiction 2001

357p pbk $17.95

ISBN: 0-14-130719-6

Vigil is the story of Nathan, whose two best friends have just died and left him feeling empty and lonely. The story goes through the days after his friends’ funerals, what he does and how he is feeling. It also follows the very different story of growing up with these two friends in a series of flashbacks that fall into place and chronological order as the story continues.

Vigil is a very good read for teenagers and would probably also interest adults. The book is a little confusing at first, until the reader gets into the ‘swing’ of how it is written, as it jumps from tense to tense and first person to third person a fair bit. But once you’re used to the style it flows exceptionally well and is written in an excellent style and mood for the topics it covers, which include love, friendship, drugs.

At times it is a little confusing, and it seems a little unrealistic as well: Nathan, the main character, sounds like a teenager at first, then you figure out that he is actually in his twenties.

The story is perhaps a little bit lengthy, but it is still interesting enough to keep you reading. It is thought provoking with some very good images and symbolism. Overall this is a book that is a good read if not read too critically. It is interesting and well written and certainly worth a look.

Caitlin, aged 14, Canberra, ACT

Nathan is trying to cope with the demise of his two best friends. When they where younger they did everything together. Then the relationship between the three of them began to evaporate.

They stopped hanging out, Tim moved away to a private school, and Dean just wasn’t around any more. Nathan gets the news that they have passed away, and is over come with sadness, He doesn’t know if it was his fault or not. He throws his life away, it’s a mess, he has no money and no place to stay and takes himself to the places he remembers they hung out as kids. He just sits there and thinks, reminiscing about Tim and Dean, and what went wrong.

The story of Nathan’s life evolves throughout the book, Nadia Wheatley takes us through a normal boy’s life and the ups and downs he goes through with his two old best mates, Tim and Dean. The book cuts through time, it takes us back to when Nathan was a kid playing with his mates, and then to the future when he is trying to cope with the grief of them passing away. The cutting through time gets a bit confusing, and it took me a bit of time to adjust to the changing but I soon got used to it and started to enjoy the book more.

I would say this book is aimed at an older teen audience mainly because of the language used and the cutting through time. There aren’t really any twists in the book, its just about how much friendship can mean.