Ana Kinsella’s affectionate portrayal of London life, Look Here, was my non-fiction read for April 2025’s Snapshot of My Reading. I enjoyed her collection of short pieces so much I was delighted to spot Frida Slattery as Herself on NetGalley. Kinsella’s first novel is a two-hander following Frida from her early acting days, and John who had begun to make a name for himself as a director by the time they meet in 2006.
Sometimes when Frida left the room on Capel Street, stepping out into the dark evening, she found she could walk for streets and streets before she remembered who she was, or where she was going.
Frida enjoys the buzz of coming off stage as much as the performance. She’s acted since she was twelve, continuing through university, not quite good enough to bag lead parts. John has met with some success, staging a Julius Ceasar that was picked up by the press. She knows how to present herself; he’s a moody introvert, driven and given to drink. Eleven years after John first saw Frida perform, something he’s forgotten, they’re introduced by a mutual friend beginning a connection which will shape their lives, both professional and personal. She listens to his ideas, contributing many of her own and helping to mould them into something that she will perform beginning with Bird, based on John’s parents’ marital breakdown. Over the next seventeen years, lines will blur in their creative relationship which becomes something else, one will walk away from the other, events in the outside world intervene, and success will be attained then fade before a massive risk is taken by one of them, leaving the power balance upended.
She had thought that the thing that linked them after all this time was gossamer thin, delicate as silk. John was treating it like the heavy coil of rope that kept the ocean liner attached to the dock.
At nearly 500 pages, Kinsella’s novel is a doorstopper but I raced through it, engrossed in this story of two people whose relationship is difficult, uneven, unbalanced yet seemingly essential to both of them. Frida and John’s narratives alternate so that we see both versions of their partnership, each subtly – and not so subtly – different from the other as Kinsella explores creativity, love, ambition and family through two smartly drawn characters with the same acute observation and wit which added so much to my enjoyment of Look Here. Hard not to see this one in performance, although it would need some skilful editing to get it down to the planned seventy minutes of the titular play. Smart, funny and deeply immersive, it’s a novel to savour, and the ending is a masterstroke. Looking forward to whatever Kinsella comes up with next, fiction or non-fiction.
Scribner: London 9781398549227 496 pages Hardback
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I tend to be reluctant to embark on doorstoppers, but once it grabs me, I’m happy. This sounds as if it could do just that..
Me, too, but this one was so absorbing it kept me rapt.
Reserved now …
Delighted to hear that. Perhaps it will be ready for you when you’re back from Sweden.
It’s not even in stock yet, so I’m hoping it may be a while. That TBR is a little better, but hardly out of Intensive Care yet.
I have this to read! Delighted to hear that you loved it – hurray!
I hope you love it, too!
Ooo! This sounds rather fab. Adding to my wishlist, I’m glad its length isn’t a barrier.
I know you’re a theatre fan so I think this one’s right up your street.
This is giving me Our London Lives vibes. Would you say there’s a similarity because I loved that.
That hadn’t occurred to me, Cathy, but it’s certainly a very absorbing narrative which revolves around a complex relationship. It’s also going to be one of my books of the year if that helps!
I love anything set in a theatre and I have this on my Netgalley shelf, unread as yet. Sounds wonderful!
I’d be amazed if you didn’t love this one.
Your review has convinced me! I had a big splurge on books last weekend and had this one in my hand as I browsed the book shop, but put it back at the last minute (largely because of its size….). I can go back and buy with confidence 🙂
Hurrah! I tend to avoid doorstoppers but I’m glad I decided to plump for this one.
Is it just me, or does it feel like there are more longer novels on the market these days. For a time, it felt as though 300 was pretty much for the limit (with some exceptions obviously), just as films were most often around the 90-minute mark, but that now, around 400 is nothing and many are longer still (and most films around/over 120). I’m complaining… I don’t like to leave a good story! (And I’m not reading on a commute at this time. hehe)
I think you’re spot on, Marcie, particularly with film. I frequently decide I want to see a film then find it’s far too long. More choice with books, of course, and this one justifies its length.
I do find doorstoppers a bit off-putting but I’m very encouraged you whizzed through this one! The story sounds so appealing.
I became so absorbed in this one I hardly noticed its length once I got stuck in.
Ohhh I think we might have a RC of this at work, I will check it out on my next shift – thanks. These interesting Irish writers keep popping up atm!
Absolutely! I read so much Irish fiction, particularly books by young women like Kinsella. Hope you can get your hands on a copy.