Father Away

This is a story about a search for a missing father, a figure in the shadow. It begins with the brief and intense affair of a young Indian and an English woman in London in the 1950s. Pregnancy and estrangement lead to a paternity suit leaving both parties deeply and permanently scarred.

Narrated from the viewpoint of the boy, Philip, brought up by his single parent, Heather. The tale evokes the atmosphere of Fifties and Sixties in rural England as a boy of mixed race with an absent father. It describes the slow process of mother and son coming to terms with their situation and tentatively learning how to talk about it. Out of this evolves the desire to know what has become of the father who had departed the scene in such dramatic circumstances.

Thus Philip, at his mother's behest, comes to begin what was a long and tortuous search based on very little data. Background to the narrative is provided by the intercultural context of the author's adult life in Germany and ongoing research into an Indian background shrouded in mystery.

Questions around the search for identity of wider relevance are raised here. This is also about the yearnings and ambiguities which people in search of a lost relative - especially a parent - experience in various forms. It is a tale of false leads, cul-de-sacs and dashed hopes, but one which ultimately leads to a satisfying resolution.