A review by radballen
Hollow by Owen Egerton

5.0

Hollow is a haunting, hypnotic meditation on the struggle to recover from staggering loss. Author Owen Egerton drew me in to his story and kept me entranced the whole way through. When a toddler suddenly dies, it tears a family apart, and leaves husband Oliver adrift in his mourning. We find Oliver, a former college professor, living alone in a shed. When his pathological liar friend Lyle convinces him that the world is hollow and another civilization lives within, their desire to see this other world creates the only hope within Oliver's life. While the plot is interesting and perhaps seemingly preposterous, what I love most about this book is following Oliver through the novel as he goes deeper and deeper into his hopelessness. Ultimately, we see perhaps a small glimmer of hope for Oliver at the book's roller coaster ride conclusion. Don't be put off by the bleakness of this book. It's a brilliant examination of struggling to find some way out of the darkness and back into the light. Highly recommended!