É J O'moore

The Maiwand Lion É J O'moore

Remembrance Sunday, 2009 is a cold, grey November day in Reading, England. Andrew Connolly, a fifteen year old boy is taking part in a wreath-laying ceremony to honour the war dead, including his father, recently killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan where he was serving with the British Army. The whole scene is overlooked by the famous town landmark, The Maiwand Lion, a massive cast-iron monument erected at the end of the Nineteenth Century to commemorate British war dead killed in the last Afghan War. As the ceremony reaches its climax and people stand in silent observance to honour the dead, something incredible happens. The Lion, whose fierce face was frozen for over a century, turns and fixes his eyes on Andrew, emitting a roar so powerful it knocks him off his feet, causing him to collapse in front of the crowd who remain completely unaware of anything other than the service. What follows is an attempt by the Andrew to understand the meaning of what he had witnessed. Is this a sign of grief, madness or illness? Or is the Lion somehow trying to give him some sort of message from his dead father? Andrew must confront his past relationship with his father, good and bad, and his troubled relationship with his mother who seems determined to get on with her life. As Christmas approaches and the town is frozen by the severest winter in over half a century, Andrew struggles to understand what is happening to him, who he can trust and whether he is losing his mind. But most importantly, he has to try to figure out the meaning of the message from The Maiwand Lion.