The Shock of the Fall

Written by Nathan Filer

Narrated by Bruce Mann

Winner of the 2013 Costa First Award! -- While on vacation with their parents, Matthew Homes and his older brother snuck out in the middle of the night. Only Matthew came home safely. Ten years later, Matthew says he has found a way to bring his brother back. What begins as the story of a lost boy turns into a story of a brave man yearning to understand what happened that night, in the years since, and to his very person.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamscape Media
• Release date: Nov 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781666602210

Nathan Filer

Nathan Filer is a registered mental health nurse. He is also a performance poet, contributing regularly to literary events across the UK. His work has been broadcast on television and radio. The Shock of the Fall is his first novel.

[mariabv2012 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Matt is a 19-year-old boy who tells us his story as a medical prescription; his psychiatrist has encouraged him to recall his memories and document them in various formats. This is how Matt decides to write memories and thoughts on a borrowed computer and on a typewriter his grandmother gave him, in addition to his drawings.

At the age of 9, Matt was on vacation at a campsite with his parents and his older brother Simon, who everyone treated as if he were younger due to an illness Matt doesn't remember. One night when they leave the caravan while their parents are sleeping, Simon has an accident and dies. Matt's life is put on hold, everything around him changes, and he feels guilty for his brother's death.

Through his narrative, the reader gradually gets to know snippets of his life, jumping between the present and the past, and slowly discovers what really happened and how it affected Matt. It is a very emotional story that connects you to the protagonist's personality and his suffering, his delusions caused by his mental illness, and how he confronts it.

The author has skillfully entered the mind of his protagonist and shown us what goes through it during the different phases of his illness. Perhaps it impacted me more because I have a loved one with the same mental illness the protagonist suffers from; the last pages of the story moved me, and I even shed a few tears.

I have no doubt in recommending you read it, confident that it will not leave you indifferent; I believe it is worth it, and I leave the decision in your hands.

Happy reading!
April 8, 2022 (Translated from Spanish)

[Maribel Calle · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

When you are small and have an older brother, he is an incredibly important reference in your daily life, like a god, like the moon. In the case of Mathew, even being the youngest in the family, he always takes care of his brother Simon because he has a cognitive disorder, but his older brother is still very special to him. Unexpectedly, Simon dies, and the world of the entire family collapses. Mathew not only loses his brother but also his whole world, including his childhood: nothing will be the same, and this event will determine his entire life to the point of shaking his perception of reality.

I was hooked from the first page. I literally devoured it and immersed myself in this story, greatly appreciating the characters and the plot, and didn't stop reading until I finished it. I empathized with Mathew and all his pain, his insecurity, his fears, and I feared the consequences of his impulsiveness. It touched my heart deeply.

Despite being fiction, the great research work that went into writing this novel is evident, as it evokes in the reader the desire to stand by the protagonist, protect him, warn him of dangers, and help him with his fears. The ending is moving, a bridge of hope for Mathew, but it also hints at a loop in the events that is an evident sign of what happens in real situations.

As Mathew says, "writing about the past is a way of reliving it, a way of seeing how it unfolds again. But this story never meant to treasure a memory, but to find a way to let it go."

FANTASTIC!!!!! (Translated from Spanish)