Idle Hands by Cassondra Windwalker

Idle Hands by Cassondra Windwalker.
Published 23rd July 2020 by Agora Press.
Read July 2020.

When Perdie makes the brave decision to leave her abusive husband and take her children half-way across the country, she thinks she is giving them all the best chance of a full and happy life.

But years later, when tragedy strikes, she wonders if it would have been better to stay put and weather her husband's fists for the sake of her children.

What would you do if you were given the opportunity to do it all again? Would you make the same choices?

When Perdie is given the chance to find out, by making a deal with the devil - otherwise known as Ella - she has the opportunity to see if she can really change the course of her family's destiny, or if they are fated to make the same mistakes over and over again.

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Idle Hands poses a really interesting question, that intrigued me from the off. What if you had the chance to do it all again and change the course of your life? Would you? Could you?

In this book, our author, Cassondra Windwalker, not only poses this question, but gives it an original twist by adding the devil to the mix - in this case, going under the rather ordinary name of Ella. Ella lurks in the shadows, looking for the opportune moment to tempt those greedy and dissatisfied humans who stray off the straight and narrow path, offering them a choice deal or two to win herself a few souls.

However, Perdie is not the usual prey of Ella as she does not yearn for sex, money or a rock and roll lifestyle. In fact, Ella has to bide her time for a number of years before the opportunity presents to snare Perdie and trap her into a deal that bodes ill - a chance to go back and make a different choice at a significant crossroads in her life. Instead of deciding to leave her abusive husband eight years ago, Perdie gets to see what her life would have been like if she had stayed with him. I think we can all agree that this is unlikely to give us a fairytale ending, especially as the chance is offered by none other than the devil, but no spoilers in this review!

There are some interesting concepts explored in this book - not least the nature of the devil and evil - but the dominating theme of abuse makes for some tough reading. I found Perdie's choices problematic, and wondered how realistic her decision to live with an abusive husband rather than remove herself and her children from danger actually was? Would someone who had had the courage and determination to make that difficult choice really return to the violence that they had escaped?  The life she chose, and her justifications gave me rather a bad taste in my mouth - especially the implication that she was complicit in the abuse her husband subjected her to. This made me very uncomfortable. 

Beware! This is not a book for the faint-hearted or anyone who finds these subjects triggering, because all your buttons will be pushed! But having said all this, there are some intriguing pivotal moments and imagery, that give pause for thought in these pages. I particularly enjoyed the scene where Ella is holding the hand of one of the characters as they fade from life and the angel of death is holding their other hand and gathering up their soul - while the both studiously ignore each other - and some of the musings on the nature of human kind are very thought provoking. There is also something rather compelling in the notion of the circular nature of the fates of the characters. There is definitely scope for another outing for the sardonic Ella, should Cassondra choose to write more, as her brand of devilry is certainly an unusual and intriguing one!

Idle Hands is available to buy now from your favourite book retailer in paperback, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Cassondra Windwalker and Peyton Stableford of Agora Books for providing me with a copy of this book, in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

From the cover of the book:

You can call me Ella. You generally assign me a whole host of other preposterous monikers. I think the least imaginative name I’ve heard is “the devil”, but I’ll answer to it if I must.

After making the courageous decision to leave her abusive husband, Perdie and her three young children start over and finally find the safety and love they deserve. But years later, when tragedy strikes, Perdie is left wondering if the choice she made to leave has led them to this moment.

If she were given the opportunity to take it all back and stay, would she?

In a frantic bid to protect her family, Perdie makes a deal with the devil to do just that. But in a world where the devil pulls the strings, can Perdie really change the past?

Brimming with enlightened observations and brilliant voice, Idle Hands is a haunting examination of grief, resilience, and what we’d give to spend another moment with the ones we love.

About the author:

Cassondra Windwalker grew up on plains and longed for mountains. Today she lives by the frozen sea. She earned a BA of Letters at the University of Oklahoma and pursued careers in bookselling and law enforcement before resigning her post to write full time.

A poet, essayist, and novelist, her short-form work has appeared in numerous literary journals and art books. Her full-length books of poetry and prose are available in bookstores and online. She welcomes conversations with readers through her social media platforms and in the occasional coffee shop.