Review: Carnival by Rawi Hage

Rawi Hage's new novel Carnival is the excellently written story of a taxi driver, Fly, as he negotiates relationships with his friends, neighbours and passengers. They are generally representatives of the under-belly of society and Fly is the philosophical leveler when situations get dicey. Set during carnival time in an unspecified city the characters are fairground people, transvestites, criminals, alcoholics, prostitutes, drug addicts and 'spiders', those drivers who sit in their taxis waiting for fares.  
  

Born into a travelling circus, Fly is no ordinary character. Brought up by the bearded woman, he owns a flying carpet in an apartment which is filled floor to ceiling with books, categorised by his own unique system. Fly often gets drawn into sticky situations but always seems to deal with them in his own philosophical way He is an odd but admirable character and his trustworthy qualities are spotted by his passengers who strike up often more than just a driver/customer relationship with him.  

The stories of the various characters we meet are all woven around Fly's taxi journeys and returns to either his flat or the café where all the drivers eat. This premise is surprisingly effective and Hage deals sympathetically with this lower level of society whilst retaining an edge to his writing. I first encountered Hage whilst reading the IMPAC prize shortlisted books, which he consequently won with his first novel De Niro's Game. An instant fan, this is an equally rewarding read but with more depth and development of character plus a wide variety of reader emotion. Rawi Hage can definitely be considered an author to follow with great interest.

Carnival by Rawi Hage is published by Penguin Books www.penguin.co.uk

Review: Mutton by India Knight

'Laugh-out-loud funny' is bandied around in book reviews about a lot of not-so-funny books. In India Knight's case it is the absolute truth. Giggling throatily on the train, in bed and on the sofa as I raced through Mutton in two days I have finished the book thinking that she may be one of the people you list as 'celeb you would most like to have dinner with.'
      

India Knight's writing is pacy but full of feeling. Her journalism lends itself to the no-nonsense style of story telling whilst her philosophical asides are real thoughts on subjects that go through everyone's minds as concepts are considered.

There is no getting away from the fact that this book is going to appeal to 'women-of-a-certain-age', that age being mid-40s+teenage kids+clothing crisis+am I really old? At a certain age everything becomes a question; is this dress too young for me? vs is this dress going to make me look old and frumpy?, should I try to maintain a youthful image vs should I accept the inevitability of ageing and just try to age gracefully and the pitfalls surrounding mature dating. The list is endless and the teenagers won't be backward at coming forward if you get any of these decisions wrong. The heroine of India Knight's book is Clara; forty-six, feeling to be in her prime, divorced with three kids with a happy supportive family. That is until her old school friend moves in, returned from ten years in LA with an LA yoga body, LA food philosophy (don't eat basically) and in complete denial that she is nearly fifty. Extolling the virtues of the nip and tuck along with the botox and all that goes with it, Clara starts to question her satisfied existence which is not helped by her son's seventeen year old girlfriend wafting around the house radiating youth and firmness.

With a wilting faded rose attached to the collar of the book jacket cover picture of Clara and the statement "Age before beauty. Maybe." this book brings up every question about ageing gracefully, addressing the whole subject with humour, candour and ultimately a big dollop of warmth that will make this one of those books you'll be telling all those 'women-of -a-certain-age' that they will just have to read.

Mutton by India Knight is published  by Fig Tree/Penguin www.penguin.co.uk

Night Film by Marisha Pessl

It's not often that a book comes along where you genuinely don't want the story to end, but Night Film is one of them. The blurb on the back of the book reads:

       "Everybody has a Cordova story. Cult horror director Stanislas Cordova hasn't been seen in public since 1977. To his fans he is an enigma. To journalist Scott McGrath he is the enemy. To Ashley he was a father.
         On a damp October night the body of young beautiful Ashley Cordova is found in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Her suicide appears to be the latest tragedy to hit a severely cursed dynasty. For McGrath, another death connected to the legendary director seems more than a coincidence. Driven by revenge, curiosity and a need for the truth, he finds himself pulled into a hypnotic disorientating world, where almost everyone seems afraid. The last time McGrath got close to exposing Cordova, he lost his marriage and his career. This time he could lose his grip on reality."


Night Film is an edgy, dark and thrilling read. An middle-aged investigative reporter and his two cohorts, Nora- who has a touch of the Holly Golightly crossed with a punk about her, with her aged parakeet that travels everywhere with her in its cage, and Hopper, a disheveled but none the less still glamorous loafer, who between the three of them are determined to get tot the bottom of the mystery of Ashley Cordova's death. Pessl tells the tale in a assured and confident voice with a strong blast of creativity that shows itself by the use of media to add depth to the story. In her acknowledgements Pessl thanks those who helped her "to push book design in a new direction" and this has been done by the inclusion of web pages, emails, newspaper reports and photographs. It makes for fascinating reading.

Referencing the poetry of Eliot, in particular 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', Pessl also makes frequent reference to the use of social media in our lives now; texting, updating our status and the one way relationship dealing with a screen- indirect comments on the state of modern society.


Night Film is as addictive as the very films and the director that the reporter is chasing. It draws you in and the story builds in strength like a river as its tributaries add more to its size until it bursts into the open sea. And, like Scott the reporter, just when you think you have the mystery explained she brings more mystery to the tale to take you deeper down again. Unsure of where the real world and the imagined draw their lines the reader is brought on a chase to find an elusive person, a director who stays in the shadows, Hitchcock-like but with a darker twist.

Possibly the best book I have read this year, it follows Pessl's best selling first novel Special Topics in Calamity Physics. Don't let the size (599 pages) put you off- you'll find yourself loath to put it down as you race to its thrilling and equally mysterious close.

Night Film is published by Windmill Books www.windmill-books.co.uk .

Royal Babies and all that Jazz.

Amy Licence's timely publication of Royal Babies: A History 1066-2013 will fill a gap in the book market for all the lovers of all things royal, but also for those with a general interest in history. Because of course marriage and royal births in history past were deeply political, drawing countries together with the pacts that they created.



Nowadays a royal birth is considered a public interest story, and there is no doubt that the young couple William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have brought a new injection of hope to the flagging British royal family. But Amy Licence's book is not really about the most recent birth. Covering a grand total of twenty-five royal births from Matilda in 1102 up to what Licence calls 'Baby Windsor' due to the baby not having been born when her final chapter was written, this is an interesting look at the story of the impact a royal birth has had on European history down through the ages.

   
Matilda b.1102                       George b.22 July 2013

Of course, the interest in the new royal birth is that this newborn will inherit the throne; third in line, and the first time since 1894 the British monarchy has had three generations of heirs in waiting. Amy Licence's book is an informative and enjoyable read.

Published by Amberley Press www.amberley-books.com

'Coco's Secret' by Niamh Greene

Every so often it's nice to read a good old 'happily ever after' story to escape the realities of every day living. After all, isn't that what fiction is all about? Escaping to another world for a period of time, absorbing yourself totally in the lives of the characters only coming up for air when meal times/toilet breaks/journey's end beckons. Niamh Greene's new novel Coco's Secret is exactly that- a feel good escapist happy-ever-after story that wraps all the loose ends neatly leaving every character pleased with their outcome.

         
Coco, named after her mother's heroine Coco Chanel, is thirty-something, awkward, un-stylish and living with her grandmother after her boyfriend left to move to New Zealand. In fact she is everything that does not come to mind when you think of the name 'Coco'. After losing her mother as a young teenager, never having known her father, she has grown up with her loving grandmother Ruth and her best friend Cat. Working in the family antiques shop, she is a home bird, satisfied living in a provincial town and attending auctions to add to the shop stock. It is at one of these auctions that she unwittingly makes a purchase that is to change her life. Encouraged by her family and friends to follow her instincts, it is a find that takes her out of her comfort zone and allows her to 'find herself', climaxing in a truly moving end.


Due for publishing on the 15th August, Coco's Secret is Niamh Greene's sixth novel and it is really a great story. A little of everything can be found in here - parents with teenager problems, OAP's experiencing new found love, long kept secrets finally coming into the open plus a good dollop of good humour. Smiling quietly to myself as I read the last few pages on the Dart I was almost tempted to hand it to the lady sitting across from me. Because that's the kind of book it is, one that makes you feel good and that anyone would enjoy reading. As it turned out I brought it home but handed it straight to someone as I came in the door, "read this, you'll like it" I said confidently.

Coco's Secret is published by Penguin Ireland on 15th August. http://www.penguin.ie/