The Chase by Lorna Fergusson

Lorna Fergusson’s The Chase is a complex, dark and sometimes claustrophobic story of a couple whose dysfunctional marriage is way past its sell-by date.  The novel is skilfully written, bold and ambitious for a first novel. But Fergusson obviously honed her craft by writing short stories and is a former winner of the prestigious short story prize – the Ian St James Award.

 

The only thing that Netty and Gerald still have in common is a shared sense of loss over a terrible tragedy to befall the family, five years previously.

 

In his boorish, blustering way, Gerald buys a gloomy house in the Dordogne (or as it is unkindly known, Dordogneshire), as pre-Euro and the current recession, the area attracted a large number of Brits who could afford second homes or who sold up and started a new life there. 

 

I’m guessing the book is set around the mid 1990s (although there is no reference in the book to the wider world in either Britain or France) but I figured it would have to be around this time – just as the economy in the UK has picked up enough for Gerald to sell his plumbing manufacturing company in England for a killing and head off to a blissful retirement in France. 

 

As someone who used to help expats relocate to their idea of utopia, those who left their home country to run away from something (like Gerald and Netty) were the least likely to settle; as sadly, no matter how hard you try to leave your  emotional baggage behind, it has a habit of catching up with you.  

 

Netty’s characterisation is bold, complex and so realistic that I had to take breaks while reading The Chase as she is so realistic that she reminded me too much of self-absorbed and manipulative types who, by refusing to take control of their own lives can then go and blame everyone else for how awful their lives seem to be.  And in Netty’s case, the terrible tragedy happened to her entire family but as she sees it, it’s only her feelings that count. 

 

Netty has a troubled relationship with her grown up children and is particularly critical of her adult daughter Lynda, whose crime was to inherit her father’s forceful personality. You do wonder what it was that Netty ever saw in Gerald in the first place – apart that is as an old-fashioned provider or that she ‘enjoyed the sense of his protection, a bulwark against social fire and flood.’  Netty seems to take no interest in her grandchildren either, which is curious. Her relationship with her son Paul seems to be better than it is with Lynda, although she even turns on him when she reveals that she doesn’t love her children equally and unconditionally, when he bares his soul to her about his sexuality.

 

Netty does have a pang of guilt over the way she reacted to Paul’s revelation but is not honest enough with herself to admit the real reason for her reaction – that she was in competition with her son – and she lost. And as we know, hell hath no fury….

 

Only a writer of this calibre could sustain a story about such unpleasant characters in the way that Fergusson does and she does so with brio. The story within the story – of the history of the house and the area is brilliantly done and I was particularly interested in the art historical aspects of the cave paintings. And although I’ve never been to the Dordogne, the detail of the research is evident.

 

A brilliantly observed story of the disintegration of a marriage.

 

Gone Girl – Gone Toxic

 

The American dream goes sour Amy & Nick are two cool New Yorkers, working in dream jobs, being paid to write. Amy is a Cool Girl and the heroine for a succession of best selling books written by her parents. Who wouldn’t envy them? And then the economy falls apart and “the once plentiful herds of magazine writers would continue to be culled – by the Internet, by the recession, by the American public”. So sadly for Nick and Amy they both get made redundant and soon they can no longer afford to pay the mortgage on their trendy Brooklyn townhouse. Life can be cruel for losers in the City That Never Sleeps and the couple are forced to sell up, and retreat to somewhere affordable – in this case, back to Nick’s Midwest home town, in nowheresville, Missouri.  

 

Despite their money worries, Nick has to find a way of making a living so borrows off Amy’s inheritance to open a bar, as playing barkeep is something that he’s always dreamed of doing.  But pretty soon Nick and Amy are arguing over money and once couples start doing that, it’s a sign that love don’t live there any more and all that’s left then is the division of the spoils. Hardly the stuff of young love’s dream, is it?

 

Told from the points of view of both Nick and Amy, Gone Girl, is a psychological thriller, a War of the Roses for the 21st century. It is the tale of love gone toxic in a world where even the malls have closed down.  The big question at the heart of this book though is just who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist as by the end of the novel you may be none the wiser.

 

This is writer Gillian Flynn’s third novel. An experienced journalist, she is an assured writer and has done a particularly fine job with the characterisations of both Nick and Amy.  Nobody in Gone Girl is let off the hook, even Amy’s parasitic parents who have made a living out of creating a perfect Amy for public consumption. It’s no wonder that the film rights were snapped up so quickly as one this is for sure, Gone Girl is a book for its time, a cynical take on the reality of shattered hopes and dreams for one particular Generation X couple.

 

Chez Tulips – Stories & Recipes

Chez Tulips Stories and Recipes is an inspired set of short stories with accompanying delicious sounding recipes set in and around a fictional restaurant in the US state of Minnesota in the twin cities of Minneapolis-St Paul.
Sandra Rector’s characterisations are her strength and reading her bio I can see that she has drawn on her first-hand experience from living and working in the restaurant business. The characters in her stories are ordinary folk, who for one reason or another ended up waiting tables or cleaning grease traps. Illegal immigrants, guys who’ve been in and out of prison, addicts, the mentally ill, or those who were too poor to get a decent education: this is the reality behind the scenes in the restaurant business and it is these sorts of people that populate Rector’s story world.

The first story, Bugged is a magic-realist comedy where a woman who has an affair with her brother-in-law after her husband dies is consumed by guilt as she imagines being spied upon by an all-knowing spider. This story isn’t as strong as the others and as it’s the first in the collection it really does need to be as a reader might get the wrong impression that the writer doesn’t know her craft as it starts with exposition – telling us rather than showing us the two brothers both in love with Elizabeth. A short story has to get right on with the story and doesn’t have time for exposition and for me the story began at: ‘One drizzly, gray spring day, when the yellow daffodils and purple hyacinths had begun to bloom…’ If you really need that exposition just weave it in to the rest of the story on a ‘need to know’ basis.

The two strongest stories for me were Cremains and Mother’s Day, both of which feature Blossom the waitress. In Cremains, Blossom learns forgiveness, despite the behaviour of her errant husband, a man she never really knew. In the second, Mother’s Day, Blossom, like many a mother, believes that her adult son no longer loves her. She’s relieved that she won’t have to spend Mother’s Day at home alone, hoping in vain that her son will call her, as she’s rostered to work at Chez Tulips that day. There she observes another son who appears to detest his mother but has forced himself to take her out because that’s what’s expected of him. Although it starts off as a rather sad story of love and loss, there’s an unexpected twist at the end and Blossom emerges from her experience with a deeper understanding of human nature.

The last recipe – the diet-busting Crème Brulee French Toast ought to come with a government health warning – with ingredients including corn syrup, half cream – half milk and five eggs and French bread – a concoction not dissimilar to that British staple – bread and butter pudding.
Although I read this for review as part of a non-reciprocal reviewing group, I was immediately drawn in by these stories as they are not only inhabited by well-researched characters but because of the ability of the writer to weave original stories with surprising twists and turns.

“Feral Youth is as life-affirming as Trainspotting and will connect with teenagers and adults alike.” – Lambert Nagle

I’ve been itching to tell the world about Polly Courtney’s latest novel, Feral Youth, which I had the pleasure of reviewing – and now – I can!

Review – The Hard Swim – (Sam Dyke Investigations)

Keith Dixon’s P.I. Sam Dyke is back…. This time the action takes us to Edinburgh, Manchester, Portsmouth and across the channel to a sleepy village in rural France. Sam makes for a thoughtful protagonist – he’s the son of a Yorkshire miner who can riff on comparisons between the decline of industrial Britain and that of French agriculture, while getting himself and his client out of sticky situations.
Keith’s nemesis in this book is not the hired assassin Connell Steele, but his paymaster, the ambitious and morally bankrupt politician Gideon Blake.

Where The Hard Swim excels is the way it takes us into the minds of the hard-men soldiers who saw and did much more than they should have on the front line in Iraq and Afghanistan. On their return to civvy street some of these washed-up souls end up driving taxis or, for those who really can’t get rid of their residual anger, go into jobs such as ‘oil security’ or worse. Connell Steele is one such, rather deranged example. Steele, though is tiring of his day job as a mercenary. Like many a wage slave he’s stuck in his job and even though he’s very well paid to do his dirty work, he’s hardly the type to chuck in the towel and take himself off to do a creative writing M.A.

The Hard Swim is deftly plotted and an engaging read, weaving together stories from the Second World War with those set in the present. The plotting is so well done that Dixon keeps the reader guessing. Every detail that is set-up earlier on in the novel has a pay-off later on in the story. Keith Dixon’s prose is fluent and assured and he has that knack of making the writing look easy…. Although Chantal remains somewhat of an enigma, I think it was a wiser choice by the author to choose instead to delve into the mind of a complex psychopath, who is beginning to doubt himself.

On the strength of this, the third Sam Dyke book I’m keen to read the first two.

Greedy, powerful and stinking rich, the battle for Russia – Part 3

THE OLIGARCH WINS SILVER MEDAL AT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS BOOK AWARDS 2013

You may recall my interview with thriller writer George Eccles and review of his book, The Oligarch on this blog last year.  I said at the time that it was an outstandingly written book and as far as I was concerned, George had set the benchmark very high for fellow thriller writers.  Obviously I was not the only one who admired George’s writing and it therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that George has won the silver medal in the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2013.

The Oligarch: A Thriller has been nominated runner up in the best thriller or mystery novel published as an e-book in the Independent Publishers Book Awards 2013.

Already nominated for the Global E-book Awards 2013 and winner of the Indie Book of the Day Award 2012, this prestigious award is further recognition of this topical, disturbing thriller set in Russia’s corrupt political and business world.

The Casual Vacancy – A Novel for Our Time

The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults is set in the fictional town of Pagford, an area where the gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ grows ever wider with each passing day.  The Casual Vacancy of the title is the job advertisement for the election of a new parish councillor, after the death of the much-admired Barry Fairbrother, who keels over in the opening pages of the book.  Fairbrother, a working class hero, who never forgot about those less fortunate than himself, is one of the few characters in the ensemble cast, that you can really warm to.

The local Parish Council are planning to vote on whether or not to cast off their troublesome dodgy housing estate, with its drug problems and welfare dependent occupants.  Barry was one of the few councillors to support The Fields, but one of those vying for his vacant seat, Miles Mollison, has different ideas and has chosen to stand, not for altruistic reasons but to keep the riff-raff out.

As well as Barry’s devastated family, there is one other character, Krystal Weedon, who has been very badly affected by his death.  Barry seemed to be the only person in Pagford who saw potential in Krystal. He encouraged her to join the rowing team, which was the only thing in her life that she had done for herself. Krystal reminds me of Vicky Pollard of Little Britain fame, although there is nothing remotely funny about the way Krystal lives.

Decisions being made in the UK right now around housing are being made at local government level and something that once seemed irrelevant and dull, suddenly takes on great importance when local government officials have the power to okay or veto large scale housing developments in what were once quiet rural communities. I too have sat through ‘interminable, ill-humoured council meetings,’ where decisions are taken that could have a profound effect on the local community.

The town of Pagford is a microcosm of British life. Many of the characters reflect the current attitudes, which have hardened in recent years, polarising society into ‘skivers’ versus ‘strivers’.  Tabloid newspapers make much of the rising cost of the welfare budget but you don’t need to be an economist to work out that in a recession (caused by the banking crisis and not the poor) that those struggling to get on the jobs ladder and the over 50s, who have been made redundant and replaced by cheaper, younger workers, are having to resort to state handouts.  It is hardly a life of luxury, despite the relentless tabloid headlines of examples of feckless welfare-dependents and their deviant behaviour.

Most of the ‘haves’ in The Casual Vacancy come across as unpleasant, small-minded and in some cases downright vindictive.  Samantha Mollison, wife of Miles, describes him thus: ‘Samantha sometimes found Miles absurd and, increasingly, dull. Every now and then, though, she enjoyed his pomposity in precisely the same spirit as she liked, on formal occasions, to wear a hat.’  Then there is this apt metaphor for rural Middle England life:  ‘Miles, Samantha thought, was looking back at his father like a big fat Labrador, quivering in expectation of a treat.’

If Miles is a Labrador, then Simon Price is an aggressive, menacing, guard dog.  He terrorises his family, not just with threats but with physical violence. He is particularly cruel to his wife: ‘Simon was seized with a brutal urge to punish her for intuiting his own fears and for stoking them with her anxiety.’

The characters on the Left seem to be afforded more sympathy than those on the Right but even well-meaning social worker Kay comes across as someone who sees her clients as a series of case notes and problems rather than as human beings.  Kay is regarded with contempt by both her daughter, who blames her mother for ruining her life by uprooting her from the excitement of Hackney, and her ungrateful boyfriend, Gavin.  Kay, who made the move to Pagford to spend more time with Gavin, is callously cast aside when she tries to take their relationship further than the occasional night in together. Gavin, who can’t wait to be rid of her, reflects on their relationship, thus: ‘there had been Kay; clinging to him like an aggressive and threatening barnacle.’

There is no doubt that J.K Rowling has written a novel for our time, in the way that Dickens and Trollope did in the Victorian era.  Many other writers have had a stab at writing the state-of-the-nation novel, including Jonathan Franzen, writing about middle class life in the US. Where Rowling soars above her peers, is her depiction of the lives of those at the bottom of the heap, in this case, the Weedons. It is at times heartbreaking to read about Robbie’s neglect and his sister, Krystal’s modest aspirations to have her own house, so that she can take Robbie off their drug addicted mother’s hands and try to give him a life.  Perhaps the subtitle of The Casual Vacancy should have been Hard Times because whether you agree with the politics or not, life is only going to become harder for those, like Krystal and Robbie, who for whatever reason, cannot help themselves.

 

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins

Rupert Everett’s international film career was launched with Another Country, back in 1984, when he was both young and beautiful.  Although never able to make the grade as a romantic lead – Hollywood was notoriously conservative back then and couldn’t risk the wrath of a potential right wing backlash if they cast an openly gay actor.  Nevertheless he went on to have his fifteen minutes of fame in Hollywood, where he briefly held court in Camelot.

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins describes in detail, hanging out with his famous gal pals – from Madonna to Sharon Stone.  So far, so celebrity memoir, you would think. Whatever you think of Rupert’s acting abilities (and he is endearingly self-deprecating on that topic), this man can surely write.

On his privileged upbringing:

‘After ten years of prep and public school you were part of the gang; and if you weren’t, you were a freak or a fairy. Luckily for me I was both.’

On the movie business:

‘The movie business is a strange affair, demanding total dedication from its lovers, although it gives none in return.

Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins manages to be both witty and sad, sweet and endearing as well as achingly funny.  It doesn’t sound like his younger, self-absorbed self would have been much fun to hang around with but all that changed when his beloved Mo, a black Labrador, came into his life. As he so rightly states, once you have another being to care for, it turns you into a better, less selfish person.

Although it’s fascinating to read about his early Hollywood career, hanging out with legends of another era, like Orson Welles, I just loved, that in that crazy mixed up world in La La Land, a black Labrador (a signifier of a British rural upbringing – if ever there was one), got to fly on Concorde and hang out in A Listers pools. 

Greedy, powerful and stinking rich, the battle for Russia – Part 2

“Upright in the back seat, the FSB officer waited for the Range Rover to glide to a halt outside the battlemented walls of Novodevichy Convent.”  This is the opening of writer G.W. Eccles’ exciting political thriller, The Oligarch.

Author G.W. Eccles spent ten years living and working in Russia and Central Asia before he wrote his highly original and fast-paced political thriller, The Oligarch.  But lest you think you’re in for a business history of post-perestroika Russian, then think again.  Eccles is a highly engaging storyteller and this is a skilled and assured debut.  It’s so skilfully written that you can’t tell that this is a first novel.

You can’t write about Siberia or the political conflicts within Russia without first-hand knowledge.  They are, after all, hardly the kinds of places that anyone calling himself a writer would be welcome.  Journalists who poke their noses in the wrong places in these parts have a habit of turning up dead.

The Oligarch begins with the election of a Russian President for a third term amid widespread accusations of vote rigging, and deals with the consequences of the President’s determination to claw back from the oligarchs what he regards as the family silver they obtained for a song as a result of the ‘loans for shares’ episode.

Just to give you a bit of background – in the mid 1990s a sick and ailing Yeltsin was struggling to control the new Russia and the government was rapidly running out of cash as government revenues stalled. A group of enormously rich businessmen who had profited from the fallout of the Soviet Union agreed to lend the State money in return for taking shares in major Russian companies (particularly in the natural resources sector) as security. The theory was that the State would borrow money for a year, then repay it and the security would be returned, but everyone knew that Yeltsin would never be able to repay the money in that timescale. As a result the oligarchs gained ownership of enormous companies for a tiny amount of money.

In The Oligarch: A Thriller, there are three main characters, all of who have convincing back stories and come across as three dimensional. Leksin, the hero, who is brought in by the President to investigate what is happening at Tyndersk prior to its appropriation by the State. He’s tough, but then he has to be. He has both physically and mental strength and is unflinching in his determination not to give up.

Anton Blok, the oligarch, who gained control of Tyndersk though the loans for shares scheme, has his own private agenda (about which we learn about as the book progresses) and will stop at nothing to thwart the President’s plans. He’s essentially a thug in a suit: rude, insensitive, greedy, ruthless and dangerous as he has political aspirations.

Finally, Anya, Blok’s daughter. She’s a particularly interesting character because, when we first meet her, she comes across as a rich, spoilt waster, obsessed yet bored with the Moscow social world. However, as she gets to grips with what her father’s doing and the danger in which it’s putting Leksin (with whom she falls in love), she has for once a purpose in life and she shows steely determination in pursuing it.

It’s a shame that mainstream publishers and agents passed up the opportunity to publish The Oligarch.  But I’m certain that this will not be the last we’ve heard of writer G.W. Eccles and I look forward to reading the next instalment for Alex Leksin.

Review – The Expats by Chris Pavone

Like many a debut novel, The Expats is not without its flaws.  It gets off to a slow start, so slow in fact that had I not got this for 20p on Kindle, I may well have given up.

As a serial expat myself and someone who has worked helping other expats readjust to their new life, Kate comes across as a relocation consultant’s worst nightmare – a whiny, trailing spouse with way too much time on her hands. 

I found the characters very unlikeable and I couldn’t understand why Kate just didn’t call it a day with Dexter, children or no children.  Theirs is a loveless marriage so what was she doing playing along with the move to Europe for so long? Julia and Bill come across as two-dimensional and I don’t really care what happens to them.

If you can stick with it and suspend your disbelief, in the end the book does have something useful to say about marriage and relationships – that we all hide secrets from each other. 

The action and pace picks up in the second half and it becomes a tightly plotted (if somewhat implausible) read.  There’s an over reliance on character exposition in last part of the book which is a little irritating but given the complex nature of the plot may be the only way that readers of commercial fiction will understand what it is that is supposed to have gone on. 

The Expats has been skilfully marketed and managed to gain an impressive number of press reviews, some of which raved about it.  The most accurate to my mind was the one written in The Washington Post, which calls it, ” a sometimes silly spy tale.”