The Uncertain Past of Malachi Trendle

A mind-bending psychological mystery.

Malachi remembers the future. His life as he knows it extends from the present – the day on which he meets his wife-to-be, Freia – until the onset of dementia half a century later. His visions of imminent disasters, world-changing events yet to happen, and technological advances born of today's embryonic imaginings are as clear to him as anyone else's memories of recent human and environmental catastrophes and defining moments in history.

Yet Malachi has no recollection of the past. People, places and events appear to escape him at the instant of perception. His condition has been dubiously diagnosed as global amnesia – total memory loss combined with an inability to create new memories. However, no-one is, has been or will be able to account for his knowledge of the future.

Twenty-year-old Malachi reflects on how the challenges and pressures of life in the future will compel him on three occasions to exploit his knowledge to his advantage or for the benefit of someone close to him – only for each attempt to compound the calamitous consequences for everyone involved.