An intriguing and absorbing story which quickly had me hooked and turning the pages.
Peter, an ageing music journalist, who has been sent a cassette tape of what sounds to be an amazing new band, seeks them out on a remote estate in Yorkshire; he hopes they might rekindle his flagging dreams of promoting new talent. But the four people living there seem to be trapped in the nineteen seventies. None of them admit having sent the tape. They live an 'hippie' lifestyle without TV or computer, or telephone (and there is no mobile phone coverage); they are cut off from the outside world. Aldous, the eldest, the leader, resents Peter's presence and repeatedly insists that he leaves before he corrupts the innocence of his siblings. Magni, the other brother, digs holes and fills them back in. Dharma, the eldest girl, espouses and alternative medication; her little sister Eowyn seems lost and confused. As Peter explores, and gets lost in, the crumbling mansion and the overgrown grounds, the mysteries deepen.
At the same time, there is the story of Peter, going through a rather late mid-life crisis, learning from the siblings' rejection of the world he takes for granted and reaching an epiphany (three-quarters of the way through; the pacing in this novel is near-perfect).
“Nothing’s as it seems here, Peter.” (Ch 22) I was quickly intrigued, forming all sorts of theories about what had happened (and what was going to happen). This kept me hooked for the first four-fifths of the book. The difficulty with a book like this is how to keep the magic alive and the reader still reading after all has been explained. This was done successfully by exploring the idea of whether Peter, representing the outside world, had the right (or the duty) to destroy the innocence of the brother and sister musicians.
The plot could be considered as a variant on the 'hero's adventure'. The hero-protagonist is Peter whom we first see in the normal world as he walks down the muddy drive with his wheely luggage and afterwards again see in the 'real' world but he spends most of his time in the 'other' and slightly magical world of Rottnest, which is where he becomes a changed and better man, learning the skills that will enable him to become a better man. He encounters trials along the way, some of which he fails (falling off the loo seat, his abortive attempt to record the music-making) and some of which he passes (seeking Eowyn). Could you argue that Dharma and Eowyn (and Magni?) are his helpers while Aldous is the antagonist?
A thoroughly enjoyable read by a writer at the top of her game.
Selected quotes
- "No one told you anything about late adulthood, that middle age was a transition from ‘The future is a long way off,’ to ‘The end is nigh.’ Just when you got your shit together and your head in a relatively stable place, your body goes to pot." (Ch 5)
- "He eyed the remaining three insults to the world of baking and wondered where he might secrete them in the room." (Ch 8)
- "Each time he determined to head to a particular area, his way was somehow altered, as though Rottnest realigned its passages once he had set foot in one." (Ch 9)
- "Peter had nothing against dreadlocks per se, but he drew the line when they were unkempt and could be smelt from two strides away." (Ch 17)
- "When does a person become too old to drink and smoke and stay up late? It seemed that middle age had come suddenly upon him. Youth, that long ago idyll, that green and pleasant land, barely lasted before dragging one inexorably towards old age. Then death." (Ch 20)
- "They looked about as alert as koala bears after bingeing on eucalyptus leaves." (Ch 20)
- “Last chance saloon, and the bar’s closed." (Ch 27)
- "Pretend you’re Heathcliff, he tried to cajole himself along. More like Cathy, you great, soft lump.” (Ch 29)
- "He’d been wallowing so much in his own so-called lack of success, and the need to be worth something, he hadn’t understood how lucky he was." (Ch 29)
- "People said children were empathetic, Peter disagreed. As a child, it could be difficult to truly appreciate the pain of another - hence school bullying." (Ch 30)
- "As evening drew in, someone lit candles around various rooms and in the main hall. They didn’t so much light up the place as add flickering shadows," (Ch 34)
- "In the dark, Rottnest lurked as though waiting for something." (Ch 34)
June 2022
Other books by this author reviewed in this blog:
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