Chroma

Chroma is a child's-eye portrayal of the effects of divorce on a precociously imaginative eight-year-old child, Riley. The novel clearly depicts how adults attempting to hide family disruption for the sake of the child can easily backfire. Riley is only too aware that his parents are splitting up but his mother's inability to discuss this with him results in the boy getting misleading information from playground conversations instead and leaping to his own conclusions. His mother, Jean, is struggling to cope herself which, understandably, doesn't help the situation. I admit to being shocked at her encouraging such a young child to regularly view adult horror and thriller films as well as appalled by the poor diet she feeds him. I felt I was supposed to sympathise with Jean's predicament, but found this impossible to do. Wenman-Hyde has created interesting characters in Riley and Jean however and their interactions always did feel authentic. Jean's abrasive relationship with her sister, Sam, adds depth to the scenario. Unfortunately, for me, Chroma fell down on two aspects. Firstly, the writing style is very heavy on telling rather than showing so I often felt pushed back from the action. Atmospheric and tense moments are also frequently diluted by lengthy diversions into unnecessary back stories. Secondly, I was confused by why two American police officers are employed in a town that otherwise is portrayed as British. Their existence clashes with practically every other cultural pointer so initially I wondered if 'Deputy Barrow' and 'the Chief' eating donuts in their squad car were a figment of Riley's imagination. Distractions like this are unfortunate as, at its heart, Chroma has a strong narrative and I did appreciate spotting so many film references scattered throughout the book.