 Two sisters negotiate men, relationships, sex and family in this compelling novella by Tessa Hadley.
It’s post-war Britain. The urban landscape is dreary and battered. Two sisters, dressed up despite the economic privations all around them, are on their way to a pub to meet friends and enjoy a rowdy night. Evelyn, the younger sister, is studying French. She’s unsure of herself, and looks up to her outre older sister, Moira, who is a fashion student. Both women flirt with the young men, sizing them up as potential love interests, only to find many of them wanting, and the decent guys unattractive anyway. The sisters still live with their parents, and younger brother Ned, in a bleak working class house. Theirs is not a happy family. Ned makes explosives as a hobby, and their father is carrying on an affair. It’s a constant battle to keep fights and simmering animosities at bay. One night soon after the party at the pub, Moira takes her sister to a house in another part of London. It’s a big, once grand house, now fallen into disrepair. They meet a group of Moira’s friends and start drinking. An atmosphere of boredom and futility predominates.The men at the house are not great catches, some decidedly sickly, and lurking at the bottom of this barrel is Sinden, a creepy young man with designs on both the sisters. The Party is a stark portrait of young women’s lives in what feels like 1950s Britain (there are references in the novella to the Malayan Emergency, a guerilla war fought between 1948-1960). Evelyn and Moira are just starting their adulthood, studying with a clear hope of improving their lives (they dress with exuberant confidence in tight clothing), yet are surrounded by a culture not yet ready to offer women emancipation from subservient roles. With their mother as an example, the reader feels that Evelyn and Moira are destined to get dudded by life, ending up as downtrodden wives. Yet there is a glimmer of hope for them at the end, as bad sexual experiences unite both women in a more clear eyed view of the world. Grim, gritty and realistic, readers of Claire Keegan will enjoy this accomplished novella. The Party, by Tessa Hadley. Published by Jonathan Cape. $29.99 Review by Chris Saliba  A wild dog tells his story
On a small island park live a community of animals - gulls, squirrels, pelicans and racoons. They all co-exist on mostly friendly terms. A group of bison, which are fenced off in an enclosed area, are the mysterious keepers of what is known as “the Equilibrium”. A prominent figure in this collective is Johannes, a wild, free dog who is also regarded as “the eyes” of the park, a quick footed animal that can roam and report back on anything unsettling or out of the ordinary. One thing Johannes notices is the creation of an art gallery. Seeing a procession of odd paintings being carried in, he is often mesmerised by their strange shapes and beautiful colors. These aesthetic distractions sometimes get Johannes into trouble. A revelation occurs when Johannes comes across a field of goats, munching away on anything and everything. He has never met this type of animal before, and when he questions them, he discovers that they are from the mainland, having arrived by ship. He strikes up a friendship with one of the goats, Helene, and a plot is hatched to free the bison and secretly harbor them on the ship, thereby making it to an almost promised land where everything is bigger and better. Dave Eggers has written an engaging story with wonderfully fleshed out characters. The small world of the little island is vividly imagined, with each animal performing various functions that show their ingenuity and ability to work together. The story has adventure (Johannes is kidnapped at one stage), friendship and humour. Helene the goat, who worries about her personal appearance, is often quite amusing. Overall, The Eyes and the Impossible, like all good children’s fiction, has that uncanny ability to create a fully fleshed and believable world, with characters you feel like you know. A highly enjoyable and absorbing story that is a pleasure to read. For readers 8 - 12 years. The Eyes and the Impossible, by Dave Eggers. Published by Anderson Press. $19.99 Review by Chris Saliba |
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