Journey to a Western Land

Author Name: David Park

Set in a frozen landscape, the new novel by acclaimed and award-winning author David Park offers a profound and meticulously crafted psychological portrait of the inner life of a father and a family in crisis. “I enter a frozen land, but I can’t say which country it belongs to.” The world is silent, blanketed in snow. Transport is at a standstill, flights are canceled, and the roads are dangerous. Yet Tom must navigate this shifting landscape to pick up his son Luke, who is ill and stuck in his student accommodation. During this solitary journey from Belfast to Sunderland by car and ferry, Tom relives his life: the beloved wife he left behind, busy preparing the perfect Christmas and trying to mend the family’s rifts with celebratory atmosphere; the son who drives in his direction but finds it difficult to communicate; the recurring small disappointments in his career as a photographer; and the absence that never leaves him like a voice in his head—his other son, Daniel. In easy, poetic language, David Park paints a vivid portrait of the inner world of a man grappling with the challenges of existence: the memories that haunt us, the secrets that tear us apart, and the bonds that give us strength. Between his reflections on marriage, masculinity, fatherhood, and ambition, this novel, through its meticulous and detailed portrayal of the human experience, captures the intractable mystery at the heart of our lives.