Review of Bettina

Bettina

Perhaps the most unusual of these quest narratives is the quirky Bettina, which is a modern love story loosely based on maedieval allegory and told by the aging but perceptive bus after whom the book is named. Yes a bus! The well-versed Bettina is convinced that the ideal love sought in the Roman de la Rose is still attainable, even in a cynical era, and when circumstances thwart the lovers, Spencer and Phoebe, who are driving her on what may be her final journey across North America, she deliberately stalls or self-sabotages by creating mechanical failures which metaphorically represent the damage needing to be repaired in their relationship, forcing them to slow down until reconciliation can be achieved.

Our willingness to suspend our disbelief is immediate, so convincingly rendered is the compassionate personality of all incredible characters. Thomas Childs manages to balance the ribald wit of contemporary dialogue with idealistic musings on the nature of love, the coarse and often banal details of physical passion with lofty and erudite abstractions. This is an original work that could easily have slipped into parody or bathos, but instead delights us with a fresh approach to an old theme a new and varied voice telling us the same story, but with conviction and passion.


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More Reviews of this title

Bettina

This wry, heartfelt little gem of a novel is a romance told by an aging but resilient omnibus with its heart (oil pump? alternator?) set dangerously close to its human cargo. The tone feels like Seinfeld meets Chaucer, bawdy and acerbic in ways both utterly current and charmingly antiquated. Then events move gradually into more shadowed territory. Thomas Childs presses buttons here that will plumb familiar depths for lovers who've known the doldrums of alienated affection. This debut work takes uncommon risks, and succeeds uniquely. Bettina is as incisive as it it disarming, and finally as committed to healing as it is to the stubborn cycles of accusation and guilt.


The Globe & Mail

Bettina

Thomas J. Childs has accomplished a nearly impossible feat: he has written a first novel that is utterly unlike anything else currently being published. Told from the point of view of a compassionate and erudite bus, Bettina is a brilliantly crafted tale of the quest for Love that combines the resonance of the mediaeval allegory with the edgy bite of contemporary realism. A virtuoso performance.


— Keith Maillard

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