This book review is middle class because it feels awkward
and insecure. (There’s something I can’t say, but I may put it on the
agenda for the parish council.)
Marian Keyes makes a fine point near the beginning of hugely
entertaining and often very moving The
Mystery of Mercy Close. The Walshes, she explains, didn’t trust “the outside”,
“especially because the lead on the telly didn’t stretch that far”. And yet her
new boyfriend Artie’s family can happily sit outside of an evening, doing a
jigsaw while drinking homemade valerian tea.
Whatever valerian tea
is.
Keyes’ book is beautifully judged and extremely funny. A
regular number one bestseller, her popularity doesn’t rest on an ability to
make you laugh but on the fact her jokes pack a huge heavyweight emotional
punch. It comes here as she explores her lead character’s suicidal tendencies. Keyes
has herself suffered from depression and you sense her honesty.
Set in contemporary Dublin, this is a timely reminder of the
hellish reality of the collapse of the Celtic Tiger economy. Helen Walsh is a
private investigator, yes really, who was laughing back in the day when everyone carried a thousand euro handbag and
got their husband followed. But Helen’s flat has been repossessed and she’s
now living with mum and dad.
Yet her mother insists the Walshes are middle class. It seems the quest for social identity exists
everywhere, not least in my loo where I have installed a very funny little
hardback: The Art of Being Middle Class.
The average “MC” person lives in a “constant state of
insecurity” unsure of their “tastes, pre-occupations, behaviours and
sensibilities”, its authors inform me while offering expert guidance on “How to
behave in a gastro pub”, “The proper position of a waistband” and “Real gravy – the dinner party weapon”.
Dinner parties are a staple of JK Rowling’s first book for
grown-ups, The Casual Vacancy. Or Mugglemarch, as Britain’s fastest
selling book has been unkindly, but perhaps not unjustly described.
Samantha Mollison the owner of an outsized lingerie shop in
nearby Yarvil, is a terrible cook and her casserole goes uneaten by her guests,
so she gulps down a bottle of wine and says horrible things to wind up Kay, the
social worker who has moved to Pagford from London in order to pursue her
relationship with Gavin, a solicitor, who was born with two cold feet. Kay was
quite flattered by the way Gavin didn’t bother to set the table while preparing
a quick spaghetti Bolognese. And so on.
While Keyes’ novel belongs to the moment, for all its social
realism and much talked about satire Rowling’s exists in a strange sort of a
bubble. With its snobby bourgeoisie and its desperate underclass, Pagford is a
made up everytown – JK herself has likened it to Anthony Trollope’s Barsetshire.
And yet, no one there ever seems to watch much telly or care about the football
score.
While the Potter novels are told clearly and consistently from
Harry’s point of view, the Pagford pantomime is played out with a cast of what
feels like dozens. Many literary novels do this. Few are any good. And The Casual Vacancy is a slow trudge for
the first half. (She is clearly besotted with her characters and regularly uses
parenthesis, like this one, to cram in extra detail).
And inner monologue,
like this.
It does eventually pick up speed and yes of course, she
draws you in before providing an emotional, and quite shocking pay off. But it
is bleak. This is the world of the Durlseys, with Harry/Barry dead in the first
few pages. And the reason why I’m feeling so awkward and middle class about it?
I didn’t like it that much.
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