Tom Houghton

by Todd Alexander

His whole life has been a fantasy.
Who is Tom Houghton?

As a boy growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, Tom Houghton escapes the harshness of the schoolyard by cocooning himself in the cinema of the golden age of Hollywood.

When he discovers that his favourite actress, Katharine Hepburn, modelled herself on her brother, Thomas Houghton Hepburn, Tom sinks deeper into his fantasy life. Determined to reveal his true identity to the world, Tom is propelled on a torturous path with disastrous consequences.

Almost thirty years later, Tom is offered an acting role at a festival in Scotland. With the rigours of his past finally catching up with him, fantasy and reality struggle for control and Tom finds himself questioning everything he thought he knew about himself.

‘A wonderful, touching coming-of-age novel that is raw, confronting and tender at the same time.’ Better Reading
‘As tragic, confronting, hilarious and utterly true as the best of Matt Nable and Christos Tsiolkas.’ Books and Publishing
‘Written with enormous humanity and skill, and the characters spring off the page.’ Ann Turner, author of The Lost Swimmer

• ISBN10: 1925184560
• ISBN13: 9781925184563
• Publish Date: 1 October 2015
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster Australia
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 295
• Language: English

Reviews

[Michael @ Knowledge Lost]

As a child growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney, Tom Houghton was an innocent boy with an obsession with classic cinema; an obsession that he inherited from his grandmother. His favourite actor was Katherine Hepburn. As a man who just turned 40 years old, Tom Houghton is a completely different person, bitter and jaded with the world. Tom Houghton is an exciting new coming of age story from Todd Alexander.

Told from the two different stages of life (twelve and forty) Tom Houghton offers an interesting look into this character’s life. I suspect that the book is semi-autobiographical but I found this a well-developed characterisation. I was particularly interested to see just how much Tom has changed over the years. In fact, this often felt like two different people.

As this novel progresses, events start to hint at what makes Tom the person he is today. I am always fascinated by the way the world shapes people. Particularly if society turns people evil (ever since reading Frankenstein), or in this case, making people jaded. There is so much that could be pulled out if I had a psychology background but as a novice, I just enjoyed the direction this novel took.

I was sent this book by the publisher with a note saying that they thought I would enjoy it. I am glad I listened and picked this book up because it was right up my alley. Tom Houghton reminds me a bit of the writing of Christos Tsiolkas, albeit a much tamer novel. I do hope that Todd Alexander writers more novels like this, I will be eager to pick up another.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-reviews/genre/contemporary/tom-houghton-by-todd-alexander/