WE OWN THE SKY

by Luke Allnutt, Hachette

Glass-half-full, happy-go-lucky computer scientist Rob’s life appears to be on track. He’s found the woman of his dreams in orderly accountant Anna, and he’s sold an app for more than $1 million. Completing his bliss is five-year-old son Jack. But when his precious boy starts behaving unusually, suffering dizzy spells and crashing his bicycle into a tree, alarm bells ring and Anna insists they take him to the doctor, who gives them devastating news. For a parent, it disrupts the natural order of life when a child is given a grave prognosis, but life doesn’t always play fair. For logical Rob, who is used to solving problems, it is a struggle trying to come to terms with his son’s illness and his anguish is almost beyond description.

Both Rob and Anna are hoping for the best, while fearing the worst – trying to deal with their pain and uncertainty as they attempt to keep up a brave front for their young son. Told through the increasingly traumatised eyes of a loving father who starts looking for answers in unconventional places, as well as from the blurry lens of an upended bottle that numbs his senses, this emotional, heartbreaking and strangely uplifting story will stay with you long after reading the final sentence.