**In the Absence of Heroes
**Anthony McCarten – Random House.
Surviving isn’t the hard part… living is. In the Absence of Heroes, by Kiwi-born author Anthony McCarten, is a very contemporary story about an age-old heartache – that of when parents lose their child. Renata and Jim Delpe are the anguished parents, whose marriage is disintegrating in the wake of their teenage son Donny’s death a year previously.
Increasingly distant from her husband, Renata overcompensates by being obsessively protective over 18-year-old Jeff, the couple’s surviving son. Jeff, who still text messages his dead younger brother, is addicted to online gaming, desperate to escape the dysfunction at home. Before long, however, it becomes too much to bare, and he runs away.
Renata also escapes into the virtual world, nurturing an online relationship with an anonymous stranger, desperately seeking solace and meaning to replace the void in her heart. Jim, meanwhile, is resolute in his determination to repair his fractured family. He believes the answer lies in the English countryside – a move away from London and the miseries it holds.
Spending most of his time with a rather amusingly named dog, S**head, he is neck-deep in denial and grief. In the Absence of Heroes is the sequel to Death of a Superhero*, which depicted Donny’s illness and passing, and has now been made into a film.
Just as with his first book, Anthony treats some truly heart-wrenching material with humour and empathy. Although much of the book takes place in internet chatrooms and gaming sites, the heart of the story is in Renata and Jim’s home – in its unspoken apologies, excruciating silences and unbridgeable distances.
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