As the story unfurls, the book takes on the hues of a thriller, keeping readers eagerly turning the pages. A fabulous read that will make the readers sigh with awe and ache
When I picked up the review copy of Icarus by K. Ancrum, I was intrigued by the title and the cover. The cover and the title both allude to Icarus of Greek mythology; he was the son of the master craftsman Daedalus. Father and son were imprisoned in a tower by King Minos of Crete. Icarus wanted to escape and explore the world. So, his father made two pairs of wings from feathers, stuck them together with glue. Icarus was warned not to fly too close to the sun, as that would melt the feathers, making Icarus fall. Sadly, Icarus ignored his father’s warning, flew close to the sun, the wax melted and he fell and drowned in the sea.
But Icarus Gallagher of this book is an obedient son of Angus Gallagher, who has trained him from the time he was a 12-year-old, to steal priceless art, from the wealthy art collector Mr Black and replace the originals with forgeries, made by Angus, as a form of revenge. The reason for this is the role Mr Black played in the death of Icarus’s mother.
Icarus has been taught a simple mantra by his father, “never get caught”. It’s a mantra Icarus has strictly adhered to for five years. He has been tutored to adhere to a life of stealth and isolation, to keep people, friendships, emotions and feelings at a distance. That’s the secret to a successful thief and a long career of robbery.
But one night this cocoon of isolation, Icarus has built around himself, develops a crack, when while stealing, he is caught by another 17-year-old boy Helios, Mr Black’s son. Though Icarus manages to escape, an unexplainable force, call it curiosity, attraction or intrigue, compels him to return to Helios. Icarus breaks every rule in his rule book, as he falls in love with Helios and starts caring and worrying for him.
Icarus, is an enigma for his classmates, especially Luca and Celestina, who with their warmth, concern and care, slowly wriggle their way into Icarus’s life and plonk him into their circle of friends.
On one side Ancrum shows Icarus’s school life, balancing it effortlessly with his night life of a thief. The boy turns up in school, sleepy and fatigued, causing a wave of concern in his classmates. Kudos to Ancrum for creating such a lovable character of Icarus and the circle of love around him in school.
Icarus and Helios are drawn to each other, bound by many threads, both have fathers who are selfish and cold, both have been forced to live in isolation, though for different reasons. Their relationship is tender and poignant, tugging at every heartstring and making the readers cheer for the duo.
Secrets tumble out, confrontations happen, there is a ticking urgency to the boys’ lives. Can they keep their relationship a secret from their fathers? Will the boys break free from the golden cages their fathers have trapped them in? As the story unfurls, the book takes on the hues of a thriller, keeping readers eagerly turning the pages. A fabulous read that will make the readers sigh with awe and ache.
Rachna Chhabria is a Bengaluru based children’s author and a freelance writer
Icarus
K. Ancrum
HarperCollins
pp. 382; Rs 599
