Overview

Phantom Limb is set in a small Scottish coastal town where Gillis, a worn down minister and former runner, finds a severed hand washed up on the shore. The hand moves, sketches, and seems to offer the hint of a miracle. Gillis becomes fixated on it, hoping it might restore meaning to his failing faith and stalled life. Running alongside this story is a second timeline set centuries earlier, following Jan, a young artist living through the upheaval of the Reformation. Their lives echo across time through shared questions of belief, ambition, and doubt.

Voice & Atmosphere

We found the tone quietly strange and often very funny. Chris Kohler blends everyday settings like church halls, football pitches, and workplaces with moments of the uncanny. The writing keeps one foot on solid ground while letting the oddness creep in slowly. There is a sense of unease throughout, but it is softened by dry humour and an awareness of human weakness.

Characters

Gillis is a lonely and well meaning figure, searching for something to hold onto as his confidence slips away. His need to believe makes him easy to worry about. Rachel, his former partner, provides a grounded counterbalance with her scepticism and emotional clarity. In the historical sections, Jan’s hunger for recognition mirrors Gillis’s longing, showing how the same impulses repeat across time.

Themes

The novel looks closely at faith, performance, and the desire for certainty. It asks what happens when belief turns into spectacle, and when meaning is chased rather than lived. Art, religion, and ambition are treated with both care and gentle mockery. Absence, whether spiritual or physical, becomes something that can feel painfully present.

What Worked

• Original idea: the moving relic drives both humour and serious reflection.
• Dual timeline: past and present stories deepen each other without confusion.
• Measured satire: the novel pokes at belief without cruelty.

Minor Quibbles

• Some church details may feel loose to readers familiar with religious life.
• The strangeness takes time to settle, requiring patience early on.

Final Thoughts

We found Phantom Limb to be thoughtful, strange, and quietly moving, a novel that questions what we cling to when faith and certainty begin to fade.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5)