I love nothing more than a story which catches me unawares. Early on in this dazzling historical novel, Francis Spufford sets a mystery in motion thatI love nothing more than a story which catches me unawares. Early on in this dazzling historical novel, Francis Spufford sets a mystery in motion that absolutely compels us to read on, and whose unexpected solution is not revealed until the final pages. Along the way there are twists that left me slack-jawed with astonishment and grinning in delight. It is the most fun I have had with a book in a long time.
The setting is New York, the year 1746, and Richard Smith is the enigma at the heart of it all. This dashing stranger arrives fresh from London with a fortune in his pocket. Taking his bill to be cashed by Lovell, a local merchant, he becomes an immediate figure of speculation among the infant city's seven thousand souls. Just who is this curious fellow and what is his business? Smith keeps his cards close to his chest but he can't resist falling for the local charms. Lovell's daughter, the sharp-tongued Tabitha, particularly catches his eye. As he waits the mandatory 60 days for his riches, he will encounter early morning duels, rooftop chases, high-stakes card games, and become the object of some unforeseen affections.
Spufford is the author of several well-received works of non-fiction and he puts his research skills to tremendous use here. A fledgling New York comes alive with his evocative descriptions of bustling coffee-houses, narrow Dutch-gabled buildings and cows grazing on the common. And while the level of period detail is exquisite it never overwhelms the story, it merely adds to the wonderful sense of place.
However it is a surprise to learn that this is Spufford's first novel, so assured and intricate his plotting is, so well-drawn his characters are. He has a beautiful turn of phrase: snow falls "in fat tumbling clots, as if the stuffing of furniture were being tossed over the balconies of heaven" and on the rain-soaked streets, "Everything trickled, gurgled, spattered, dripped; kept up a watery unwelcoming music." The dialogue is also a delicious treat - I enjoyed the flirtatious sparring between Smith and the contrary Tabitha most of all:
'You should try the experiment of seeing yourself through my eyes.' 'What would I see?' 'Beauty. – And rage, and bitterness, and solitariness, and a very foul temper; but first of all, beauty. You make everything else in a room look dull. Your face is more alive than anyone else's, to me. All the other faces are dirty windows, to me, smeared with chalk and street-spatter; yours is clear through, to the soul behind. – And I know the shape of your mouth by heart. I know the colour of your eyelids when they are closed. I know your long legs and your careless walk. And what I do not know I would like to learn; all of it, for many years, gently, greedily—'
It all amounts to a fabulously entertaining and fast-paced tale that is an utter joy to read. I cannot recommend Golden Hill enough - this is historical fiction of the highest calibre....more
I finished The Pier Falls almost a week ago, but it hasn't finished with me. These haunting, startling stories still swirl around in my brain - nightmI finished The Pier Falls almost a week ago, but it hasn't finished with me. These haunting, startling stories still swirl around in my brain - nightmarish visions from a dark imagination. The author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time demonstrates effortless versatility with this stunning collection and proves himself an expert of the short format.
Be warned - there are few happy endings here. Bad things happen and lives change forever in an instant. In the title story a crowd of contented holidaymakers frolic on Brighton pier and a catastrophe is recounted in detached, chilling style. The Island tells of a pampered princess who struggles to survive on a desert island and begins to regret a recent rash decision. In Wodwo (which I've since learned is a contemporary reworking of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight), a quarrelsome middle-class family have their Christmas Day interrupted by an unexpected visitor.
In an era when many short stories are slow-moving, melancholic meditations on life, devoid of any sense of urgency, this collection is a rousing antidote. These action-packed tales all take unexpected turns and their unpredictability is exhilarating. And though the subject matter is bleak, the author often finds breathtaking beauty amid the gloom:
Snow... blots and softens the top of every object like ice on a plum pudding. Hedges, telegraph wires, cars, postboxes, recycling bins. The world is losing its edges. Look upwards and it seems as if the stars themselves are being poured from the sky and turn out not to be vast and fiery globes after all but tiny, frozen things which melt in the palm of your hand.
In a recent Guardian article Haddon describes himself as "not a terribly good writer" but "a very persistent and bloody-minded editor." I think he is being remarkably modest. This is a faultless, virtuoso collection of unsettling stories which linger long after the last page....more
"STRANGE NEWS, they'd say, of a monstrous serpent with eyes like a sheep, come out of the Essex waters and up to the birch woods and commons..."
I know"STRANGE NEWS, they'd say, of a monstrous serpent with eyes like a sheep, come out of the Essex waters and up to the birch woods and commons..."
I know I'm going to love a book when I find myself growing very fond of the characters early on. A mere fifty pages into this engrossing story, I was absolutely charmed by the most captivating of casts and wanted to know everything about them. And on the final page, I felt utterly bereft as I bid them farewell.
Cora Seaborne is the beating heart of this novel. Recently widowed from a loveless marriage, she revels in her newfound freedom. The owner of a sharp and inquisitive mind, she becomes intrigued by reports of the eponymous serpent, a mysterious beast which has allegedly terrorised the Essex countryside. Accompanied by her unusual son Francis and stern but loyal companion Martha, she moves to the village of Aldwinter to investigate the existence of the monster. There she meets Reverend William Ransome, the rational, well-educated vicar who is exasperated by the effects of the mythical creature on his frightened congregation. Cora is also visited by the impish Luke Garrett, a brilliant surgeon who is openly in love with her, and George Spencer, his good-natured, wealthy colleague who has an eye on Martha.
The mystery of the serpent's existence is one of the most compelling aspects of this gripping tale but the many love triangles which abound are even more enthralling. Chief among these is the will-they-won't-they relationship between Will and Cora. Married to the luminous Stella and father to three wonderful children, surely the Reverend wouldn't throw it all away for a woman he has only just met? And yet what began as a battle of wits has developed into something more - he can't deny his feelings for her. Cora in turn, relishes their time together and this indisputable attraction torments them both.
What impressed me most about this stunning book is the depth of characterisation. Perry imagines the lives of the entire cast so extensively that the fully-formed characters leap from the page. Cora Seaborne is an unforgettable heroine - independent, witty and fiercely intelligent, I developed quite the crush on her myself. Not only does Perry write exquisitely about nature and life in the Victorian era, she packs more insight about human behaviour and relationships into this sumptuous story than every other book I've read this year combined. I can't recommend this magnificent novel enough and I hope it wins every literary prize on offer....more
There is nobody like Kate Atkinson to deliver an emotional gut-punch. She has a way of involving the reader so intimately in the lives of her richly iThere is nobody like Kate Atkinson to deliver an emotional gut-punch. She has a way of involving the reader so intimately in the lives of her richly imagined characters that when tragedy strikes it absolutely floors you.
One such character is Teddy Todd, RAF bomber in World War II and golden boy of a well-to-do English family. We first encountered Teddy in the superb Life After Life but this novel can also be enjoyed in stand-alone mode. In the midst of one particularly perilous raid, Teddy makes a promise to himself that if he survives the war he will try to live "a good quiet life." Survive he does, and the story moves around in time from his youth to old age, discussing his marriage to childhood sweetheart Nancy and his relationships with daughter Viola and grandchildren Sunny & Bertie.
A melancholy tone pervades throughout the novel. Though Teddy outlives the war and manages to adjust to life afterwards, the horror of what he has experienced never truly leaves him. He manages to raise a family with a woman he loves but was never in love with. His daughter Viola turns out to be a kind of monster - hostile, self-absorbed and a bad mother. He worries for his grandchildren - Bertie has her head screwed on but Sunny is a troubled young man (when we discover the origins of his misery, it is particularly devastating). At one point Teddy admits that he was never more content than during his idyllic childhood in Fox Corner and I found this revelation to be unbearably sad. "Happiness, like life itself, was as fragile as a bird’s heartbeat, as fleeting as the bluebells in the wood, but while it lasted, Fox Corner was an Arcadian dream."
The war sequences themselves are both thrilling and frightening. Though Teddy is clearly one of the most gifted pilots in the RAF, the shadowy spectre of death is always close at hand. The deep bonds forged with his adoring crew are poignantly explored. The men and women who gave their lives for their country are celebrated by Atkinson but war is never glorified. It is seen as a gruesome necessity that comes at enormous cost to the survivors as well as the fallen.
The ending has been the subject of much discussion. Without giving too much away, it invites the reader to view the book in a whole new light. Some reviews have dismissed it as a cheap trick but I thought it was magnificent and added another layer of emotional heft to what was already an incredibly moving story. A God in Ruins is an absorbing, spectacular examination of one man's life and the atrocities of war. It can sit comfortably alongside Behind the Scenes at the Museum and Case Histories as the best of Kate Atkinson....more
Loading...
