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Lucas (novel)
Encyclopedia
Lucas is a 2002 novel by Kevin Brooks
about a teenager named Cait who lives on an isolated island off the coast of England
and befriends outsider Lucas, eventually falling in love with him only to see the island's prejudices come to life.
home, Hale, which is roughly four miles long and two miles across at its greatest extent. She begins her story by explaining when she first meet Lucas, a mysterious teenager who has traveled to the island to explore and live for a short time period. On the same day that she first sees Lucas, her brother returns home and she is nearly assaulted by another islander, Jamie Tait.
However, Lucas is not accepted into the island community easily, due to the discrimination
he receives at the hands of the town folk. He works a few odd jobs, but is the victim of attempted assault, forcing him to defend himself and earn a negative reputation. Primarily this comes from Jamie Tait, a university student and popular islander from a wealthy family. The negative behavior escalates when Lucas rescues a young girl from drowning during a town festival, but is met with accusations of molestation.
Lucas is forced into hiding. However, he feels an urge to visit Cait one last time. Unfortunately, Jamie has decided to frame Lucas for the rape, assault and attempted murder of a promiscuous islander named Angel, who had befriended Bill, Cait's old best friend. The novel climaxes as the islanders attempt to capture Lucas, who is innocent of the crime.
Lucas: The sixteen year old title character. Lucas tells Cait that his mother gave birth to him when she was young and Lucas had later left home for mysterious reasons, traveling from town to town. However, we never find out his full, true story and he remains a mysterious character which is part of his persona. He is a soft spoken character with the potential for danger.
Bill Grey: Bill is Cait's old best friend. Cait misses the 'old' Bill who used to enjoy trips to the library and looked at the world innocently. Their friendship falls apart when they begin to discover the world in different ways; whilst Cait tries to live her life quietly Bill craves attention and sex, alcohol and everything she believes will make her more 'grown-up' and in fact makes her more childish.
Dominic "Dom" McCann: Dom is Cait's older brother who returns from university. At first he is involved in drugs and the island's party scene, but comes to his senses when he realizes how dangerous it is, via Cait.
John McCann: John is Cait's father. He is an author of Young Adult fiction, is Irish and an alcoholic, due to the death of Cait's mother years before. He is in his early forties and supports Cait unconditionally.
Jamie Tait: Jamie Tait is the son of a powerful man in town. Although he is engaged to the daughter of the police captain, he is a sexual predator who threatens Cait on multiple occasions. He is extremely prejudiced against Lucas and like all prejudices it stems from his fear of Lucas, the threat of Lucas being so attractive and such an unknown quantity.
Angel Dean: Angel is the teen friend and sort-of mistress of Jamie, and Bill's 'idol'. She has a wild reputation for making bad choices and being promiscuous but underneath it all is just as lost, confused and lonely as Cait
Simon: An unsure-of-self boy who works with Cait on projects. Simon has a crush on Cait and Dominic uses this to taunt Cait before Dominic changed.
and The Ox-Bow Incident.
Nicolette Jones of the Sunday Times praised Lucas, writing that "it gets to you. Then when this has happened, you want to tell everyone how good it is."
The book also won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
.
and main ideas in Lucas. Most notably, he expresses the theme of coming of age
through Cait's narration. She changes a great deal throughout the novel and there are many references to her being both "an adult" and "a child," referring to her changing personality. More than just coming of age though, Cait seems to develop a better self awareness.
Other themes include how discrimination
and distrust of strangers (xenophobia
) can have drastically strong influences and that redemption
is always possible for those who look for it. In addition, Brooks explores how just one person (both Jamie and Lucas) can have a massively large impact on small communities.
Kevin Brooks (writer)
Kevin M. Brooks is an English author best known for his novels Lucas and Martyn Pig .- Johnny Delgado Series:...
about a teenager named Cait who lives on an isolated island off the coast of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and befriends outsider Lucas, eventually falling in love with him only to see the island's prejudices come to life.
Plot summary
The story opens as fifteen year old Cait recounts events occurring a year before on her small islandIsland
An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...
home, Hale, which is roughly four miles long and two miles across at its greatest extent. She begins her story by explaining when she first meet Lucas, a mysterious teenager who has traveled to the island to explore and live for a short time period. On the same day that she first sees Lucas, her brother returns home and she is nearly assaulted by another islander, Jamie Tait.
However, Lucas is not accepted into the island community easily, due to the discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
he receives at the hands of the town folk. He works a few odd jobs, but is the victim of attempted assault, forcing him to defend himself and earn a negative reputation. Primarily this comes from Jamie Tait, a university student and popular islander from a wealthy family. The negative behavior escalates when Lucas rescues a young girl from drowning during a town festival, but is met with accusations of molestation.
Lucas is forced into hiding. However, he feels an urge to visit Cait one last time. Unfortunately, Jamie has decided to frame Lucas for the rape, assault and attempted murder of a promiscuous islander named Angel, who had befriended Bill, Cait's old best friend. The novel climaxes as the islanders attempt to capture Lucas, who is innocent of the crime.
Characters
Cait McCann: Is the fifteen year old heroine of Lucas. Cait is a strong willed teenager, who feels alone on the island - her best friend is growing up in the wrong crowd and she does not want to be a part of their toxic behavior. Although she runs environmental charity stalls she is not as interested in that as she appears - she wants life to be simpler with the friends she used to have and that is why she is attracted to Lucas; he is a simple, untainted outsider who has a both pure and animalistic instinct setting him apart from everyone she knows. She tells the story a year after the events occurred because her father, a writer, told her to "cry herself a story", and understand what happened better.Lucas: The sixteen year old title character. Lucas tells Cait that his mother gave birth to him when she was young and Lucas had later left home for mysterious reasons, traveling from town to town. However, we never find out his full, true story and he remains a mysterious character which is part of his persona. He is a soft spoken character with the potential for danger.
Bill Grey: Bill is Cait's old best friend. Cait misses the 'old' Bill who used to enjoy trips to the library and looked at the world innocently. Their friendship falls apart when they begin to discover the world in different ways; whilst Cait tries to live her life quietly Bill craves attention and sex, alcohol and everything she believes will make her more 'grown-up' and in fact makes her more childish.
Dominic "Dom" McCann: Dom is Cait's older brother who returns from university. At first he is involved in drugs and the island's party scene, but comes to his senses when he realizes how dangerous it is, via Cait.
John McCann: John is Cait's father. He is an author of Young Adult fiction, is Irish and an alcoholic, due to the death of Cait's mother years before. He is in his early forties and supports Cait unconditionally.
Jamie Tait: Jamie Tait is the son of a powerful man in town. Although he is engaged to the daughter of the police captain, he is a sexual predator who threatens Cait on multiple occasions. He is extremely prejudiced against Lucas and like all prejudices it stems from his fear of Lucas, the threat of Lucas being so attractive and such an unknown quantity.
Angel Dean: Angel is the teen friend and sort-of mistress of Jamie, and Bill's 'idol'. She has a wild reputation for making bad choices and being promiscuous but underneath it all is just as lost, confused and lonely as Cait
Simon: An unsure-of-self boy who works with Cait on projects. Simon has a crush on Cait and Dominic uses this to taunt Cait before Dominic changed.
Reception
Lucas has received numerous pieces of praise from a variety of different sources. One author compared the novel as a clash between To Kill a MockingbirdTo Kill a Mockingbird
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature...
and The Ox-Bow Incident.
Nicolette Jones of the Sunday Times praised Lucas, writing that "it gets to you. Then when this has happened, you want to tell everyone how good it is."
The book also won the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis
The Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis is an annual award established in 1956 by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth to recognise outstanding works of children's literature. It is Germany's only state-funded literary award. In the past, authors from many countries...
.
Themes
Kevin Brooks deals with a variety of different themesTheme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
and main ideas in Lucas. Most notably, he expresses the theme of coming of age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
through Cait's narration. She changes a great deal throughout the novel and there are many references to her being both "an adult" and "a child," referring to her changing personality. More than just coming of age though, Cait seems to develop a better self awareness.
Other themes include how discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
and distrust of strangers (xenophobia
Xenophobia
Xenophobia is defined as "an unreasonable fear of foreigners or strangers or of that which is foreign or strange". It comes from the Greek words ξένος , meaning "stranger," "foreigner" and φόβος , meaning "fear."...
) can have drastically strong influences and that redemption
Redemption (theology)
Redemption is a concept common to several theologies. It is generally associated with the efforts of people within a faith to overcome their shortcomings and achieve the moral positions exemplified in their faith.- In Buddhism :...
is always possible for those who look for it. In addition, Brooks explores how just one person (both Jamie and Lucas) can have a massively large impact on small communities.