THIS WEEK’S NEW BOOKS REVIEWED | FEATURE

 

CHARITY

Madeline Dewhurst (Lightning)

The past and the present are weaved delicately together in this exceptionally accomplished debut novel.

Lauren has agreed to move in with Edith, an elderly lady who is looking for assistance at her large London home, in return providing a place for young Lauren to live. Age difference aside, the arrangement appears to be working well for them both and for Paul, the lodger in the basement, until Edith’s daughter Jo returns from Italy. Haunting memories resurface as we begin to learn about Edith and her deceased husband Graham’s past in Kenya.

Numerous questions arise throughout the story from the perspective of the past and the harrowing ordeals that were endured in East Africa during the 1950’s. A series of flashbacks provide the basis for the historical elements, revisited by a diverse cast of characters and offering an insightful outlook into a host of topical themes including race, class and wealth. The title is also significant, offering a clever dual meaning to the plot which becomes clear as the novel progresses.

An impactful, life-affirming tale that delves into the depths of humanity both good and bad. It’s not surprising to discover that this novel was longlisted for the Bath Novel Award: I’m already looking forward to any future fiction from Madeline Dewhurst.

Price: £8.99. Info: here

words RHIANON HOLLEY

 

THE CROCODILE HUNTER

Gerald Seymour (Hodder & Stoughton)

A suspenseful web of deceit, spies and the secret services showcase the expertise of this author, with an MI5 unlike the glamourous offices portrayed in James Bond, Mission Impossible and John Le Carre’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

There is a cat-and-mouse game happening as the ‘eternal flame’ Jonas Merrick is safely ensconced in his routine. Although he is often found sat at a desk, his skills lie in research and concentration.  A telling photograph of a crocodile, submerged in a body of water, represents a change: it waits for its prey as we watch the narrative unfold. This signifies the antagonist’s ability to pounce with their murderous plans.

A young Briton, Cameron Jilkes, returns from Syria a jihadi: there is a real sense of dysfunction driven to violence by his previous loss. He comes from a broken home, and while the lack of an education is committed to as a reason for him to remain angry, there is an underlying ferocity fuelled by a lack of love given to him. 

Though the lack of surveillance in The Crocodile Hunter sometimes troubled me as a reader, there is a real sense of escapism, the masterful way that the supporting characters engage the audience with potent dialogue, descriptive clarity and a worthy problem to solve. With a back catalogue like this writer, and an annual release, I look forward to what Seymour’s brain produces next. 

Price: £18.99. Info: here

words BILLIE INGRAM SOFOKLEOUS

 

DREAMLAND

Rosa Rankin-Gee (Scribner)

Things are falling apart in London, catastrophically, and so Chance’s mother moves her and her older brother to Margate at the beginning of this, the second novel from Rosa Rankin-Gee. The novel follows Chance as she grows up and learns to survive in the margins of a town which itself is on the periphery, geographically and politically. In time, we learn that society in the UK is breaking down, with people left to fend for themselves as energy starts to run out and the seas rise.

Dreamland belongs to an increasing number of speculative fiction works where climate is a central part of the setting and the plot, and is also part of a recent trend in both fiction and non-fiction for edgelands – places that are neither one thing nor the other: ecotones, margins, peripheries, liminal spaces. The Dreamland of the title is an abandoned theme park, but also Margate itself and Chance’s life there. Everything in her telling is hazy, and the novel is suffused with a dreamlike feel, the narrative compressing long spans of time or important events before slowing down to explore some small detail with exacting precision.

The feeling of being marginalised alternates with the pleasure of discovering unorthodox and individual types of power, and Rankin-Gee’s assured writing easily conveys the feeling of both excitement and disappointment that comes with being young. Occasionally, overly elaborate stretches pull the reader out of the flow of the narrative, but overall the story speeds by very enjoyably.

Price: £14.99. Info: here

words DAVID GRIFFITHS

 

MALE TEARS

Benjamin Myers (Bloomsbury)

In an age of incels and toxic masculinity, one could almost be forgiven for thinking these are tough times to be a man. Certainly, these are tough times to be a man in this debut collection of short stories by award-winning novelist Benjamin Myers [pictured, top – credit Richard Saker]. Men are crushed by agricultural machinery or mutilated for bird feed, and if these physical pains aren’t enough, there’s plenty of metaphorical breaking and beating to be seen too.

In the opening story, A Thousand Acres Of English Soil, Myers lyrically depicts a horrific incidence of karma befalling a farmer for crimes committed as a child. In The Whip Hand, a bereaved son calls in old debts with unforeseen, Sisyphean consequences.  Suburban Animals ends on a note of impending doom for an old school bully located by Google.

The question of what it means to be a man is central to this collection. These are men with secret urges, dark moods, struggling with change in different ways – but the women who are exasperated, bored and tortured by these men have their say too, defiant, distinctive and, for one domestic miscreant, deadly. We have to travel a long way back, to the pre-feudal brother and sister on an epic quest in The Longest, Brightest Day to find a positive male figure and, in that story’s final words, perhaps some cause for hope.

Price: £16.99. Info: here

words PAUL JENKINS

 

REMOTE SYMPATHY

Catherine Chidgey (Europa Editions)

Set in Buchenwald, Germany during World War II, Remote Sympathy is a haunting book with an intriguing premise at its heart. Arriving from Munich and settling into life as a high ranking officer, SS Dietrich Hahn, his wife Greta and their son Karl-Heinz are afforded a gilded lifestyle in their new home alongside the camp at Buchenwald.

In Frankfurt we meet Dr Lenard Weber, a doctor who has invented a sympathetic vitaliser machine that it is hoped can cure cancer. When Greta becomes ill and is diagnosed with the disease, Dietrich arranges for Dr Weber to be sent to the camp in the hope of curing his wife.

Relayed from the perspective of the three main characters, plus reflections from the people of Weimar, the narrative is constructed using letters and recorded evidence, providing a succinct and interesting style. The juxtaposition of the idealistic lives led by the officers and their families compared to those living in the camp is striking. As the relationship between the three characters is explored, it becomes apparent that all three share common traits of obliviousness and deceit, often choosing not to believe what is right in front of them, often with catastrophic consequences.

I devoured this novel but also wanted to savour every sentence with its vivid descriptions, poetic language and realistic characters. An extremely emotive and impactful story, set amidst a devastating historical episode that nevertheless provides an element of hope at its core. This book will stay with me for a long while yet: a magnificent accomplishment.

Price: £12.99. Info: here

words RHIANON HOLLEY