Flip author’s latest could win elusive prize

How would you cope if an idyllic family holiday ended with the death of the person you loved most, caused by your actions?

This is the awful situation facing Shiv, the main character in Martyn Bedford’s new book for young adults, Never Ending.

Such is the fallout from these dreadful events that Shiv (short for Siobhan) is sent by her parents to Eden Hall, a former monastery which now houses the unconventional Korsakoff Clinic. Her stay there will give her time to reflect on what happened on that supposedly perfect holiday in Greece, to time with other teenagers whose similar experiences have resulted in overwhelming feelings of guilt and self-loathing.

The book is written partly in flashback, with alternate chapters relating current events at the clinic and the story of what happened on the Greek island of Kyritos.

The onset of the holiday is awaited with optimism and excitement, while Shiv’s arrival at Eden Hall fills her with grim foreboding but, interestingly, the language used in each case has eerie similarities. Anticipating her trip to Greece, Shiv imagines “the sun soaking honey-coloured heat into her skin as she stands at the water’s edge”, while as she approaches the clinic she notices the house “transformed into glistening honeycomb – so gorgeous in the lemony sunlight”.

Patients at the Korsakoff Clinic undergo a 60-day regime which has two stages; initially they are encouraged to concentrate on the loved one whose loss has filled them with guilt then, when the director feels they are ready, they are made to confront the tragic events head-on, and they are exposed to the full horrors of what they have experienced.

Shiv meets other teenagers who have undergone similar traumas, and they react to this treatment in different ways. A “buddying” system is encouraged, and Shiv finds herself mentoring Mikey, a young boy who reminds her a little of her dead brother, Declan.

As the twin storylines develop, we see Shiv’s growing romantic friendship with Nikos, a local boat guide, and her struggle to cope with the unconventional treatments at the clinic. Her warm, bickering relationship with Declan is a strong feature of the book, while his petty reaction to her romance with Nikos is explained by a twist which surprises her. In the end, the two storylines combine when Mikey’s extreme reaction to his treatment puts him in danger and Shiv is forced to confront her demons.

Martyn Bedford has achieved something very impressive in this book; not only has he managed to tell a moving story from the point of view of a 15-year-old girl, but he also introduces quite a range of characters, each of whom plays a crucial part in the story.

Declan is portrayed realistically enough for his loss to create an absence, while the various relationships, and the two worlds of Kyritos and the clinic are so vastly different from each other that they work independently; when they finally come together the effect is startling.

For a book which concerns a premature death and a search for an ending, it is remarkably full of references to beginning; the very first word is “waking” and the first chapter starts with “the start of something else”.

The book’s title clearly refers to Shiv’s inability to shake off her trauma, but in the end she finds a new beginning.

In Martyn Bedford we have a local author with national appeal, and this book may well go on to win the prize which just eluded his previous book, Flip, which was shortlisted for a number of awards, including a Costa book award.