cover image A Clash of Innocents

A Clash of Innocents

Sue Guiney. Ward Wood Publishing (www.wardwoodpublishing.co.uk), $9.99 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-0-9566602-0-6

A house-building volunteer job in Cambodia was the inspiration for Guiney's debut novel set in Phnom Penh in 2007. Deborah, the narrator, is a 60 year old American nurse who has run the Khmer Home for Blessed Children for ten years. Thinking it unwise to trust anything or anyone, she creates her own institutional routines to avoid being "overwhelmed by the insanity often lurking just outside". The arrival of young volunteer Amanda on an unusually cold February day threatens to upset that sense of order, yet she immediately fits into the routine and wins the children's affections. However, Amanda's reluctance to offer personal information fuels Deborah's mistrust and, as the novel slowly moves through episodes about local festivals, land, politics, and turbulent history, it becomes apparent that Deborah, too, harbors secrets in a land full of them. Guiney's admiration for Cambodia and those who rescue children is obvious, but it doesn't translate into dynamic fiction; dialogue is stilted and contrived while the plot only moves as Amanda's secrets unfold. Deborah emerges as a humorless, one-dimensional figure, and attempts to individualize the children fail to elicit reader sympathy. (Sept.)