Premonitions by Jude Watson What

Premonitions by Jude Watson

What is it like to live with the terrible, constant knowledge of what is going to happen in the future? Is this power of premonition a gift or a curse? This dilemma is hardly a new premise for a work of science fiction or fantasy. However, Jude Watson attempts to inject some new life into an old plot so that the reader of her work is not afflicted by the same predicament as her heroine Gracie. Still at times the reader of Premonitions also feels as if he or she labors under the same curse as the heroine, namely the burden of constantly knowing what is going to occur next, right before it happens as the plot of the novel evolves.

What is different about Gracie's visions and some other heroes and heroines gifted with the ability to see into the future is that Gracie does not know how to manage or interpret her powers, as of yet. For instance, over the course of the novel, Gracie is never sure if what she is seeing takes place in the past, the present, or the future. Gracie, unlike most heroines gifted with the second sight, is not particular wise, either, so she is apt to misinterpret her visions. She finds it difficult to explain her visions to others, with tragic consequences. Although the novel does not settle the question one way or the other, as to whether it is good or bad to see into the future, it does suggest that no gift is truly a gift unless one can use the information for good and share the information and knowledge one gains with others and the rest of the world at large.

Gracie is not even a very likeable heroine. She often talks back to adults, and is surly and sullen with people her own age. However, given that she has just lost her mother in an accident she was unable to prevent, this attitude on the part of Gracie is somewhat understandable. Still, the author makes it clear that there is no moral reason that the main protagonist is given her gift of seeing into the future -- the gift is something, like death or an abduction of a child that simply happens in an imperfect but not evil world. The novel's world is one in which things simply occur, like Gracie's gift or the crashing of the plane. The novel suggests that the world is neither good nor bad. Neither Gracie nor even the main villain who is a kidnapper is either completely good or bad.

Still, Gracie, in fact, would prefer to be ordinary rather than gifted. This is partly because Gracie believes her powers have no ability to forestall tragic events. For this sense of helplessness she may be excused -- after all, her mother died, even though the girl asked her to stay home rather than take the doomed flight that ended the woman's life. Most of the novel takes place in Washington where Gracie now lives with her Aunt Shay. Gracie's best friend Emily disappears, and accompanied by her cousin, a boy named Diego, Gracie tries to find Emily and Emily's kidnapper.