I’ve read two from February’s first instalment of new fiction, both of which deal with families hit by tragedy in very different ways. Laurent Petitmangin’s What You Need from the Night sees an unnamed father, left to bring up his two sons alone after their mother’s death, finding a chasm opening between him and his eldest boy. Their small domestic tragedy lays the ground for Fus to become radicalised, seduced by the far right in their run-down industrial town in northern France where opportunities for young men are thin on the ground. Narrated in plain, direct language, this is a powerful piece of fiction which sheds a bright light on political extremism and its dreadful consequences. It may be set in France but Petitmangin’s book will resonate uncomfortably in many European countries, not least my own.
I read Dani Shapiro’s Signal Fires having enjoyed Inheritance, her memoir of finding her father was not her biological parent. Her
new novel follows the Shenkmans and the Wilfs who live opposite each other on Division Street, a family neighbourhood in which the Wilfs have spent forty years of married life, moving in when Mimi was pregnant with their second child. One day when she’s seventeen and he’s fifteen, Sarah tosses the car keys to Theo so that he can impress a girl he has in his sights triggering a catastrophe made much worse by the family’s tacit decision never to discuss it. Shapiro’s an expert storyteller, neatly interweaving the threads of her story and giving each of her characters a clear voice of their own. Signal Fires begins with tragedy but ends with hope and redemption, always a plus for me.
I’ve yet to read Kathleen MacMahon’s Nothing but Blue Sky but that hasn’t stopped me casting my eye over The Home Scar in which half-siblings Cassie and Christo are revisiting Galway in the teeth of a storm. Each brings memories of two summers – one glorious, before their mother died; the other which had tragic consequences – and now they’re faced with picking up the pieces of their difficult past. ‘The Home Scar is a luminous and precise story about the inheritance of loss and the possibility of finally making peace with it’ says the blurb promisingly, and Donal Ryan’s a fan.
Christy Edwall’s History Keeps Me Awake at Night sees Margit drifting from one precarious job to another, despite her degree, and rootless although married. The case of forty-three Mexican students who disappeared in 2014 snags her attention and soon she’s caught up in an obsession that threatens to take over her life. ‘From a sharp and singular new literary voice, this is a novel that captures the texture of life in a frictionless city with drop-pin accuracy, while asking: is it possible to recover what is lost without losing oneself?’ says the blurb. Slightly lukewarm about this one but having fallen down a few internet rabbit holes myself I’m willing to give it a go.
Laura Warrell’s debut Sweet Soft, Plenty Rhythm tells the story of the women in fading jazz trumpeter Circus Palmer’s life: Maggie, pregnant with his child which may be her last shot at being a mother; Pia his ex-wife who still loves the idea of him and his teenage daughter Koko who barely knows him. ‘Delivered in a lush orchestration of diverse female voices, Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm is a provocative and gripping novel about the desire to be loved, and the need to belong’ according to the blurb. I’m partial to a novel with a musical theme which is why this one’s caught my eye.
That’s it for February’s first batch of new fiction. As ever, a click on a title will take you to a more detailed synopsis for any that take you fancy. Part two soon…
This looks an intriguing selection, from which I’m most drawn to What You Need from the Night since our life in France brought us up against some of the fallout from the issues the book seems to focus on.
I’d be interested to know what you think of it. Might be a bit of a stretch for the library although yours does seem to be a good one.
I’ll get hold of it, don’t you worry!
That’s what I like to hear!
🙂
I’m keen to try Shapiro’s fiction after also enjoying Inheritance. Nothing but Blue Sky was a real highlight from that Women’s Prize longlist, so I’d gladly read more from MacMahon.
I was fascinated by Inheritance. It could have ended so badly! Good to hear re the MacMahon.
What You Need From the Night certainly stands out both because one is witnessing such trends almost all across the globe as well as since the essay on Arendt and Luxemburg I read last year also commented on France and french politics.
It’s a sobering read, for sure. My hope is that we’re seeing a tilt away from populism but it will take some time.
The Petitmangin appeals most from this collection though unless it is available in the library I won’t be rushing out to buy it – trying to be more constrained in my purchases for a while…
Good luck with the buying restraint, Karen!
That’s a really interesting selection. I really like the sound of a couple of them. History Keeps Me Awake at Night in particular really appeals.
I’m a little unsure about that one but the other two I’ve read were excellent,
I have a copy of Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm. It sounds really interesting.
Me, too. I really like the look of it.
Signal Fires is very tempting – I like a redemptive ending. Also The Home Scar – a Donal Ryan recommendation is good enough for me!
Oh, me, too on both counts!
The first one does sound very good – timely, too. Is it set in the past or the present day, Susan? The cover photo has a vintage feel, although it could be just the use of black and white rather than colour?
It’s set in the present, Jacqui. The cover’s rather good as it evokes a nostalgia for happier times when the boys’ mother was alive. A very powerful novella.