The Foreshadowing by Marcus Sedgwick
Published by Orion Children’s, 2005

It’s 1915, and a year into the First World War. Alexandra’s brothers Edgar and Tom are away fighting and she must struggle to cope with a strange power while living in Brighton with her parents. Sasha can see the future and what will happen to her brothers Edgar and Tom on the battlefields of France. While nursing at the local hospital she realises she can predict the fate of some of her patients. As these and other visions become stronger and more personal she realises what she must do.

Already having lost Edgar to the war, she makes her way to the Front in search of her closest confidant and beloved brother Tom saving his life with her psychic powers. Her chosen path is totally at odds with tradition in a time when young ladies did not work but instead “married well”, a view which is upheld by her father.

The title of the book refers to Alexandra’s premonitions and hints appear in the early part of the novel about something important that will happen later. In the opening line we learn that Alexandra was five when she first saw the future and the novel charts the journey to a future that she has already seen.

Full of dramatic tension that keeps the reader hooked to a final surprise at the end this is a highly recommended read for young adults.

Orion’s re-released edition of The Foreshadowing has a captivating new cover to match that of Sedgwick’s book Midwinterblood, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie medal last year.