Book reviews: One More Time, by Damien Leith

Book Review – Damien Leith

One More Time.

Writers, vocalists, poets and thespians are artists who share the talent to expressively relate a good story. Damien Leith has a unique quality. He can choose any medium though which to tell the tale and hold his audience’s attention from the first word to the last.

Having migrated from Ireland he became the Australian Idol for 2006. After

attaining citizenship in 2007, he released his first novel, One More Time’.

It is difficult not to ponder how much of Sean is in Damien or visa versa. The leading character is a wayward Irishman struggling to find himself. Having left the homeland

under a cloud of shame and embarrassment he seeks refuge in the vast womderlands of Nepal. On recommendation during a chance meeting with a female companion in India, Sean is convinced to trek over the Himalayas and get right away from it all. He secretly hopes in vain that it they may have another chance meeting.

Ironically, the time and space he creates for himself leads only to thoughts of the family he left behind so hurriedly and the reasons for leaving. Even worse, the disorder which drove him from his home continues to reveal itself to the world every time an anxiety attack strikes. One then feeds on the other and Sean faces an endless battle to control and overcome what must remain his personal demons.

Images of Primitive Nepalese living conditions are contrasted against the pristine countryside which dwarfs tiny villages. The reader is left in little doubt of the author’s intimate knowledge of places Sean and his indigenous guide Mani visit along their way. A well conceived plot mirrors the twists and turns and ups and downs of the actual journey through the Annapurna mountains.

The incessant nagging in Sean’s head pre-empts rituals that are meant to divert death and destruction from his friends and family. For every disaster that befalls others

he finds a way to blame himself for their troubles. But, it is death and destruction which finally drives him to control the lonely madness, which he knows he can never stop completely.

What remains to be seen is the direction that the career of the thirty two year old Irishman takes in the future. I for one, cannot wait for the release of his second novel, which is already in the making.

One More Time By Damien Leith – Harper Collins Publishers

ISBN 978-0-7322-8641-5