Three great books sweetened the days between Christmas and January 1 for me — ending a fine literary year and paving the way for a happy 2015 of reading pleasure. I wonder which of these three sweet treats will please your palate over the summer break?
1. Revolutionary Road
Richard Yates, with a rapier-deftness like no other, penetrates the discord and despair that can characterise modern marriage. I’m not the first to note that there’s a touch of the TV series Mad Men here. The heavy drinking. The enormity of one man’s egotism. The philandering. The inadequacy of work to solve a man’s deeper problems. The suburban frustration and strained domesticity. Frank and April Wheeler barb and wound in ways that even the (supposedly) looniest character in the novel clearly names and sees. Like watching a slow motion crash, the novel builds to a devastating conclusion. First published in 1961 but rediscovered to great acclaim in 2004 and since, this is a book worthy of all the hype.
The sweet Revolutionary Road most resembles? Key lime tart. Tangy and acidic. Skilfully crafted and breathtakingly incisive.
2. All the Light We Cannot See
This was on so many ‘best books of 2014’ lists I finally tackled it. Its size had been daunting me — but I shouldn’t have worried. Anthony Doerr’s bite-sized scenes and knack for narrative drive make it easy going for such a fat book. And what a story! The parallel lives of a blind girl called Marie-Laure and and a boy called Werner Pfennig are gripping. Marie-Laure takes refuge with her father in Saint‑Malo, on the coast of Brittany during wartime. Werner is such a natural with radio he is commissioned to track down the enemies of Nazism. There’s a fine cast of other characters we grow to care about too. Central to the story is the Sea of Flame, a grey-blue diamond with a red heart.
The sweet All the Light We Cannot See most resembles? Mille-feuille. Crisp layers of intrigue intricately balanced. Enough jammy, creamy, custardy stuff to bind the layers together so each bite is delectable.
3. Nora Webster
The grief of an Irish widow in her forties and how she lives and relates to her four children in the wake of it doesn’t sound like a riveting read, does it? But Colm Toibin, with his ineffable and unostentatious style, lures readers through Nora’s days so gently, accurately and beautifully it is impossible not to be entranced. When Nora buys a stereo record player, joins a musical appreciation club and takes singing lessons, we see what a salve music can be. This is a moving portrait of a woman who is landed in a different life than she anticipated and who does her best to come to grips with it. Her dignity lingers after the book closes.
The sweet Nora Webster most resembles? Blackberry Crumble: Crunch and warmth and depth. Made by a true master and worth savouring every mouthful.
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