The Pendulum - O. Henry

"Time was not important, the journey of the soul was." The story starts in Orwell near Cambridge with a printer's daughter discovering that "you can never be sure of anything". For the characters, each life opens up a world beyond their reckoning, as they discover the Pendulum's pull and power. Each time the Pendulum proves itself to be a powerful seer, as its owners enter new worlds throughout history. A blacksmith's apprentice is introduced to reincarnation, the powers of the Pendulum and like-minded people in "The Circle". Once underway, the lives of the characters, before and after the blacksmith's apprentice, weave into the same fascination that they all share. In the early 20th century a young man suffers family tragedy, and then endures the horror of war on the Western Front. He is fortified by knowing he will come to no harm. His attempt to build a better life in the post-war period comes to naught but he knows that this is not the end of everything. Terrence Hammond's second novel explores the meaning of Karma and entertains the reader, through expert and accurate historical storytelling, the compulsion for knowledge of our past lives.