In the Absence of Heroes

The Delpe family, who have moved from New Zealand to England, are still torn apart by grief a year after their younger son Donald died of cancer. Renata, distant from her husband, looks for answers on a Catholic website whose counsellor goes by the screen name 'God'. Their son Jeff texts his dead brother and slips into an online fantasy game, Life of Lore, where he lives as a character called Merchant of Menace. Jim, who has long had a love-hate relationship with computers, struggles to hold on to his job and his marriage, and finally signs in himself to find his son. As their real and online lives collide, the novel looks at grief and at screens standing in for real contact.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Family (assigned by AI)

Set in

United Kingdom

First published

2012

Author's age

51 when first published

ISBN

9781869797232 (Vintage, New Zealand)