Review: The Pacifist by Mehreen Ahmed

Published: 11 May 2017

Pages: 300

Synopsis: “In 1866, Peter Baxter’s misfortune ends the day he leaves Badgerys Creek orphanage. Unsure of what to do next, Peter finds himself on a farm run by Mr. Brown. An aging man, Brown needs help and is happy to give Peter a place to live in exchange for his labor. Unbeknownst to Peter, Brown’s past is riddled with dark secrets tied to the same orphanage, which he has documented in a red folder.

During a chance encounter, Peter meets Rose. Peter cannot help but fall in love with her beauty, grace, and wit but fears that his affection will go unrequited as a result of his crippling poverty. But fate changes when Peter joins the search for gold in Hill End, New South Wales. Striking it rich, he returns to Rose a wealthy man. Peter is changed by his new-found affluence, heading towards the mire of greed. Will Rose regret her relationship with Peter?

Meanwhile, Rose has her own troubled history. One that is deeply entwined with Brown’s past and Peter’s future.”

Rating: ***

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I received a free copy of The Pacifist in exchange for an honest review.

The Pacifist opens in 1920s Australia, and wealthy Malcolm Baxter making his annual donation to a local orphanage. His assistant Henna, grew up in the orphanage and neither her nor fellow employee Tommy know why Malcolm is obsessed with the orphanage. Uncovering the link between Malcolm and the orphanage is clearly the premise of the plot as a whole.

The book then goes back in time to the birth of Malcolm's sister Tiara and explores his relationship with his Mother, Father and new-born sister. Later, the book goes back even further to when Malcolm’s parents are children and meet each other. There were times when I found myself getting lost with regards to the plot and characters and how they were connected to one another. I found the introduction of Mr and Mrs Carpenter particularly confusing, and it did take a while for this to be explained by the author. It might have helped if there were dates at the beginning of each chapter, as it always took a little while to re-centre myself and remember who it was I was reading about.

The Pacifist was very well written in terms of technique and style, but in terms of plot, I feel could be tightened a bit more and honed. A variety of interesting themes were touched upon, including family relationships, madness and race and identity in Australia, but not in a great amount of detail.