Stray Pilot, by Douglas Thompson (Elsewhen Press) | review by Stephen Theaker

After World War II, American pilot Thomas Tellman decided to stay in Scotland. He joined RAF Squadron 576, married a Scottish woman, and had a daughter and son with her. They lived in a prefabricated house just outside of Kinburgh, a little place that was hardly much more than a village, up until 1948, when he pursued a UFO high above the clouds and never came back. His seven-year-old daughter, Mary, grew up, had children of her own, and grew old and infirm. His wife died, his son died.

And then, eighty years after he disappeared, he returns, only a year older than when he left. His 87-year-old daughter has dementia. Kinburgh is now a town. Pollution has changed the air, sea and land. All the other prefab houses have long since been demolished, but his daughter still lives in theirs, and when he returns she is delighted. She barely remembers the last half-century anyway, so she’s not asking why he’s so young, she’s wondering why she’s so old.

He reports for duty at RAF Kinburgh Air Base, but they don’t take him seriously, at least at first. So he takes a part-time job as a gardener. He starts a romance with one of his daughter’s carers. His daughter’s health shows signs of improvement. Everything seems rather nice and jolly, but Thomas knows it won’t last. He has an important message for the world, and he doesn’t expect anyone to be happy to hear it.

I’m obviously quite biased towards Douglas Thompson’s fiction, given that he has let us publish eight of his stories, but of course the reason I wanted to publish his stories is because I like his fiction. Still, not all readers of this review will know that history, so it’s worth mentioning it before I go on to say how much I loved this book – even though it’s nothing like the experimental work I’ve read by him before.

This is more in the vein of a John Wyndham novel, understated and plain-spoken, albeit with global consequences. Its gentle humanism and tenderly-drawn relationships made me think of it as the Jimmy Stewart science fiction film we never got – or Sidney Poitier, rather, since the protagonist is black (which explains his reluctance to return to Kentucky in the 1940s). His anger over environmental issues felt anachronistic at first, but we soon learn how much he learnt on the subject in what was, for him, a year away from Earth.

The dialogue and characterisation is realistic, rather than arch or oblique – people ask all the questions you would expect them to – and any reader with a heart will be touched by Mary’s childish happiness at having her beloved, long-lost dad back in her life and looking after her. I had lots of sympathy for Mary’s carer Chrissy too, trying mostly in vain to alert the authorities to the safeguarding issues raised by a potential imposter installing himself in the house of an elderly woman with dementia.

If the book has a flaw, it’s the decision to put all dialogue in italics rather than quote marks, which has the impact you’d expect on the book’s readability, especially when long conversations or speeches add up to a screen full of italics, and for no obvious benefit. It also makes it slightly harder than usual to tell whether someone is speaking or thinking. Some readers might also feel at first that there’s not enough flying for a book with a plane on the cover and the word “pilot” in the title, but it plays a significant and satisfying part in the conclusion.

I thought Stray Pilot was a smashing novel, full of character and mystery, and carefully focused on what counts. On the downside, now I feel guilty that I won't be there to hug my children when they are elderly… Stephen Theaker ****