Review: The Witness

Name: Sophie

School: Greenock Academy

Occupation: Young person

Age:

Book: The Witness

Rating: 9

Review:
‘The Witness’ is James Jauncey’s thrilling novel about the journey of the only witness of a massacre as he travels through the Scottish Highlands. John is accompanied by the sole survivor of the massacre, a young boy called Ninian. John’s journey is not easy and for me it is the development of his character and of his relationship with Ninian which allows the reader to fully become involved in the story. The writer slips between past and present: his present day maternal emotions for Ninian which mirror a past relationship with his brother whom he has been mourning for 5 years. This made John a character I was able to relate to. I also enjoyed the personal touches that Jauncey added, like Johns fiddle playing which had several uses; firstly to explain what John loses as a person as a result of involuntarily becoming involved in a violent war; then to avoid being captured by soldiers, and finally demonstrating Ninian’s restless character. I feel that in the character of John, the author somehow evokes a personal response from the reader and it is this rather than the gripping plot makes this novel a fantastic read.