The Foreshadowing

The Foreshadowing By Marcus Sedgwick 291 pages It is 1915, a few months after the start of World War I. Seventeen-year-old Sasha is a sheltered English girl. Just as her brother, Thomas, longs to be a doctor, Sasha wants to become a nurse. As the hospital fills with young soldiers, she gets a chance to help. But working in the wards confirms what Sasha has suspected. She has a terrible gift: she can see the future. And as with Cassandra, the prophetess of Troy, no one believes her. Sasha's premonitions show her the horrors of the battlefields of the Somme and the faces of the soldiers who will die. One of them is her brother. In this riveting story, Sasha risks her own life as she races to find Thomas and-somehow-prevent his death. summary from the inside cover of The Foreshadowing This is a historical fiction book with an interesting spin on it. I liked it very much. Alexandra is an English girl with two older brothers when World War I breaks out. Her eldest brother, Edgar joins the army immediately, while her other, Thomas goes to medical school. Left alone with her parents, Alexandra begins to confirm a suspicion she'd had for years, she can see the future. It's a terrible gift, because she can only see people's death. Then, at Christmas time they get a card from Edgar saying he's fine. That night Edgar speaks to Alexandra telling her how he died. In the morning a telegram comes saying he's dead. Grieving, Alexandra realizes things could be much worse. Then Thomas joins the army and is sent to France. Alexandra begins having dreams of his death, and since nobody believes her, she takes matters into her own hands and tries to save him. It's a very interesting book because parts of it are very much about this magical sort of ability, while others are very much about the horrors of war. I liked it because it gives a very different twist to war and mystical powers. It also shows how important family can be for people. Rating: 4 Stars -kkuhar