Jason Quinn Malott

After having his heart broken, American photographer Gray Banick travels to Bosnia and into a war zone. Gray’s interpreter Emil, and his mentor Jack, often question Gray about the girl in the picture he carries with him. They know she is the reason he is here, but do not know the story behind his heartbreak. Her name is Lian Zhao and she and Gray were very much in love. Lian, however, wasn’t strong enough to face her parent’s disapproval of Gray so she chose to marry another man. Gray has traveled to Bosnia to kill her memory, or kill himself. It is now almost 5 years since Gray disappeared, last seen by Emil in a Bosnian killing field. Lian, Emil, and Jack have met in Sarajevo to find out what happened to the man they all loved.
This debut novel brings to life the horrors of the Bosnian war and its aftermath. Smoothly fading from past to present and back again, the author tells the stories of Gray and Lian, Emil, Jack, and their families. This is a story of searching for lost loves and forgotten lives. Only when the search is over can the healing really begin. This is a fabulous story.… (mer)

The title phrase comes up as one of the characters describes a sleepless night where 'the evolution of shadows' keeps him from knowing what was truly there in the room with him and what was not. The whisper of that phrase wafts in and out of the narrative of the main characters as they move back and forth in time, experiencing the things that become their shadows, their haunts, their memories. Gray Banick is photographer who plunges into the Bosnian war zone after his heart is broken--and completely disappears. It takes 5 years, but at last Lian Zhao, the Chinese American woman who wasn't able to chose Gray's love over familial expectations, Jack MacKenzie, grizzled and scarred veteran war photographer who was Gray's mentor, and Emil Todorovic, Gray's in-country interpreter who was the last person to see Gray, come together to begin a search. For the man, or for the bones, they are not certain. In reality, none are sure which they would rather find. The impact of the 5 years of brutal war and it's aftermath is a character in itself--a brutality that continues to shape everyone ever touched by it. This is an amazing, graphic,gripping story of war, and love, and what people are capable of. The fact that this is Malott's first novel is deeply impressive. He will be a writer to watch over the years.… (mer)

Synopsis:

In 1999 Lian Jiang is surprised by a letter from Emil Todorovic in Bosnia-Herzegovina about Gray Banick who disappeared in July 1995. Emil has custody of Gray's remaining possessions and since he had spoken of her and written her over the years, Emil considered her his next-of-kin contact. The news comes as a shock. Though she is now married to an up-and-coming Chinese surgeon, Lian is driven to find Gray. She flies to Bosnia and meets up with two other people whose lives Gray Banick had touched.

Lian Jiang, Emil Todorovic, his interpreter and friend, and Jack MacKenzie, Gray's mentor gather in Sarajevo to find out what happened to Gray. With little information to go on, they retrace Gray's steps in the war ravaged countryside. Each person carries their stories of grief and love.

Review:

Carefully crafted, The Evolution of Shadows, brings us deep into the lives of Lian, Emil, and Jack while gradually hinting who Gray is as a person. Lian came alive through the flashbacks, her internal monologues during the moments of reflection and through what we learn of the man that she married. Emil is probably the most sympathetic character, in part because he is so battered by tragedy and yet continues to push on. Jack gives us a glimpse of the life of an older and veteran journalist whose has spent most of his career covering foreign wars - his combination of emotional isolation, cynicism and sense of hope. I enjoyed Evolution of Shadows, it's an unusual book and draws you in. Also, I thought that Jason Quinn Malot's handled the interracial relationship between Lian and Gray with sensitivity.

Publisher: Unbridled Books (October 20, 2009), 272 pages.
Courtesy of Unbridled Books.… (mer)