Dear Future

When Red Head's uncle accidentally hit him on the head with the back of an axe, he develops a strange and visionary perspective on the world. A dramatic parade of images is released in his mind - a president on a horse, a man on a bicycle, a kite, and then blackness - and it seems to be a message from the future. Soon after, Red Head is swept back into the life of his family, and a series of comic and terrifying events ensues. An alligator called Bubble Back is lassooed by the children and held captive; his Uncle Wheels takes part in the National Cycle Championship; and Bounce, his older brother, is chosen to fight the redoubtable Singh, in a wrestling match that has tragic consequences, and fulfils the ominous prophecy of Red Head's visions.

Around the story of Red Head and his family, Fred D'Aguiar builds a rich and intensely moving narrative that explores memory and the past, and the wielding of power, both personal and political. We see corrupt powerbrokers hustling for votes in the capital, and their tentacles reaching out towards the family, as they decide that the wrestler Singh is to be the government's mascot in its election campaign. Red Head's mother, living in exile in London, has to cope with the demands of a new lover. And, in the poignant and poetic final section, we find Red Head and his brother writing letters to the future, a future they fear they may never know.

Dear Future is an extraordinary and powerful novel. Boldly drawing together different narrative voices, it is heartbreaking but often hilariously funny. It triumphantly justifies Fred D'Aguiar's reputation as one of Britain's most important new novelists.