Chocky, by John Wyndham is a book about Matthew Gore, the adopted son of David and Mary who, subsequent to Matthew's adoption, have a child of their own, called Polly. So far, so good. But when Matthew is eleven, he starts to talk to, and indeed argue with, a presence that nobody else can see. His parents think he is too old to have an imaginary friend, but go along with it, thinking it's just a phase he's going through. But when this presence, who Matthew says is called Chocky, seems to be causing Matthew to ask difficult and unusual questions and to say disparaging things about humanity in general, his parents become increasingly concerned and seek professional help. And when Matthew performs an extraordinary feat to save both himself and his sister from drowning, the newspapers become interested in this amazing boy, and this brings unwanted attention. Slowly we realise that Chocky is not a figment of a child's imagination, but a being from a far off world. But what does it want with Matthew? This is a short but interesting story of innocence and manipulation. I really liked the relationship between Matthew and his father in particular. Some of the dialogue and situations may be a bit dated, but the overall feeling of parental fear and dread for a child, and the undercurrent of unease throughout the book is great. You can never quite settle and be totally confident of what is happening for quite some time. Well worth a read, with the added bonus being that it won't take very long to do so!
My STAR rating: FOUR.
Length: 160 print pages.
Price I paid: £3.99.
Formats available: print, unabridged audiobook, ebook.
