Space Hopper
By Helen Fisher
Rated: 5 Stars *****

I was absolutely delighted to recieve The Space Hopper by Helen Fisher, one of the biggest books of 2021. I have the blurb, the review and a bit about the author. Take a look to see if this emotional yet fun book lived totally up to expectations. It tackles grief, but in such a moving, yet uplifting and intriguing way, plus adults of a certain age, can re-live small parts of their childhood, which is the fun element.
Thanks to Random Things Tours for inviting me and for Simon & Schuster for the book.

Blurb

They say those we love never truly leave us, and I’ve found that to be true. But not in the way you might expect. In fact, none of this is what you’d expect.
I’ve been visiting my mother who died when I was eight. And I’m talking about flesh and blood, tea-and-biscuits-on-the-table visiting here.
Right now, you probably think I’m going mad.
Let me explain…
Although Faye is happy with her life, the loss of her mother as a child weighs on her mind even more now that she is a mother herself. So she is amazed when, in an extraordinary turn of events, she finds herself back in her childhood home in the 1970s. Faced with the chance to finally seek answers to her questions – but away from her own family – how much is she willing to give up for another moment with her mother?
For fans of The Time Traveler’s Wife comes an original and heartwarming story about bittersweet memories, how the past shapes the future, and a love so strong it makes you do things that are slightly bonkers.

Review

How can anyone resist an invitation into a book that has the tagline – “Take My Hand And Jump With Me”. Of course I wanted to take her hand and go with her to see where we ended up.
The staff at Simon & Schuster have really championed this book, so much so that they turned their profile pictures to the rollerskates of the front-cover. I was intrigued and excited, when invited to the blog tour of this long-awaited book, to see if it really is as good as it sounds.

Rollerskates and spacehoppers take me back to being a child of the 80’s and 90’s. It’s outdoor toys that I can relate to. I can also relate to loss of a family member, which is a theme in the book, in this instance, it is her mother. She has a husband who is training to be a clergyman and it would make her a vicar’s wife, what is brilliant is the juxtaposition of his and her views, as she is a bit more scientific that what he is in their beliefs, and yet they are together and have children, which is also good as it shows that you can be a bit different and yet still have love. This however has all sorts of elements of love, not just the romantic kind.

The beginning feels like you are perhaps sitting having a cup of tea or wine (or whatever beverage), with her as Faye starts to tell her story, which all starts with a photograph. The book takes readers into her grief for her mother. It’s such a taboo subject that is such a part of the cycle of life, that is finally being talked about a bit more on tv and in books and it is not all as it looks. It is not all doom and gloom at all. There is something pleasing about this for a start. It also confronts the feelings and thoughts of grief very well. It really does feel like you’ve literally taken Faye’s hand and jumped with her, down a hole and into a Space Hopper Box. It’s all in the way the book is written that really makes it that involving.

How she ends up there is wildly interesting and begins a fantastical journey into her past, which is as intriguing as it is to how she will return home to her, rather astute husband, Eddie and her children. She ends up meeting her younger self, with all the toys and annuals, that would take readers of a certain age back to their childhoods; and she wants to conduct an interview with her younger self. The book has fascinating concepts that create an enthralling story, which also has cleverly placed titles of enchanting and popular children’s books and comics, within it, all in the context of the plot of Space Hopper and all that adults of a certain age would be certain to remember.

The book is profound and yet also has a clever lightness to it as it tackles grief, challenges in the characters past and present times and also shows people’s vulnerabilities as well as their resilience. It also questions what if you could travel back to your past and ask all the unasked and questions that may float around your head and makes it pertinent to ask your relatives them before it is too late. 

It’s a very moving book about clinging onto the past, grieving and letting go, a bit. The ending left me a bit flumoxed, but apart from that, it’s indeed a great book and one that is so tenderly mesmerising and beautiful.

About The Author

Helen Fisher spent her early life in America, but grew up mainly in Suffolk where she now lives with her two children. She studied Psychology at Westminster University and Ergonomics at UCL and worked as a senior evaluator in research at RNIB. Space Hopper is her first novel.