books@list.co.uk
l-‘AMll Y DRAMA LOUISE VOSS Are you my Mother? (Bantam MODEL
.0
LOUISE VOSS
are you my mothch
When tacklrrig a (lrfircult subject matter some authors allor<i a sprrrighoar'rl that allox': us to (repelop our ()‘.'.‘li assessrrieht through rhtellrgeht ’iitl'l'éill‘.’(3 arr<i rhterestrrrg characterrsatr<2h. Are you my ,".i’o."'ier":’ sarll‘, doesn't. lhose iarrrrlrar v-rrth lo he Someone ‘.'.'rif know Lourse Voss' rhclrriatroh to‘.'.'ar’(ls tales of friendship. loss aer r‘ecohcrlratror‘.. \‘thl‘. Are you rm blot/fer? she confronts the were Clrffrcult Issue of tyre uvorriah's search for her biological :r‘etlter.
Srrtce the (ieath of her arloptrxe parerits. t-h‘rrta has takeh r-2s;;',risri)rirt', for her ‘,()t..’t(l(}l' srster's lrfe. Pacer: ‘.'.':ti‘ her long terrr‘. partner ieazrhg artri her sister's suhseguerit successes rh irie. Frr‘rr‘a (lecrdes to err‘hark or‘. a heartfelt rri f;(>lt‘:(}‘.‘.’li£il length,» search for her hrr'th rr‘cther,
\fv'hrle no one hook can fully (i()(;;ll‘.‘,(:.".l the adoptroh experience. Vcss struggles tc engage .'.'it."r the range of fee'rrtgs :li‘l)l.f;rl rrr sucl: a serrsrtrtc therrte v/rthoal tallr'ig 'xrctrrr‘ to clrche arrri over- SUMIHHHliétlll‘,‘. A reasorralfl; '.'.'(>rtli‘, out ultrrr‘atei‘, rl'sapporvttrhg reatl. rArrha l/lrliar-
l/lOlJl RN SAH’J SCARLETT THOMAS Going Out loarth [state SHUT). O.
\Nlieh rearlrrig a novel ;t helps to feel f;()ft‘(; (Elillmilly '.-.'rth the characters. If after jib/2 pages of .-.'erglit,'. angst ridden 'lr:i”,';lie about a '2‘) gem 'ii/i rr‘rslrt rriother aearrrior‘ueri r‘er.
whose lt'.‘:li’l ’,’)lllllllllt:(l
srrrcrrle. who pur‘poselullt failed her exarris aritl rs so scareo oi lrvrhg that she lrrhrts her lrfe to vrsrtrhg her li()ll‘.(}-l)()tllt(l photo-- seusrtrx'e lrreh<l r‘.'.rhrlst \.'.'artressrrrg :h a local [JV/£1(Zliéillivéilltl\’()Ll${/// feel he cohriectroh. you’xe got to guestroh
M. 1.,ch. t) .alr.
gmng out
SCARLETT THOMAS
,.,),,.,‘,.,2 , ,1; ,'\ n l (“(7 l 1 l'.’ (Ilt.:,ll\ (\ru !\ ll“) . I H 'r 1' ' ,‘l t: '
1'! )l f)’ ’l'i"’”‘ ' t (11' ' l " <' r
l' we; ‘,'.<' '
r (;r>'1"&'\/r""ry I ':a~s’§ri. "t t: 2. “(l l'lii l,,,.,' 'i.. I, sf; '7 slim. icstea/r is
(WHOM? "‘ "“(Kr
Eilét,;.’itl t.4a.rr-::-eh l E"El,.
lit AI ()lthl
BRIAN BAILEY Burke and Hare: The Year of the Ghouls l‘flarristrea'r‘ S‘Elfitl
If". ' .r wt"!-
‘.'.’lue (ilasgoxx carr lloast write of the hastrest liarirlres rri
recent fScettrsh crrrr‘rr‘ral
ltrf’trir t'ie ':ar.rtal has tr,
uric‘h Lack to ,e (ll/ltle
':a,s for rts sr-r:.'.' cl
classrc crooks. Wrth the hehefrt oi rrostalgra. gougrhg out a lrvrhg person's eutrarls can £1t:ltr;t|l‘,‘§;~.2(}flt guarrit ‘.'.’lt(}ll It's done under Vrctorrari la'riplrght. As can (lrggrhg poor sous out of the! hurzal grouho arm selling their corpses oil to the higlzest lmioer. rrr the name of surgical research.
In the case of lrrsh r'r"r‘.grar‘.:s .’3tll'l\’(? ar‘.<l llare It71)1l§}lt. this '.'..'as H‘erelj. arr alrh. rh SE1IIS?‘-,Ill§} therr hloo<llust l or fhrs. the, garrt second place to Harold Shrprrtan for dastardly (lee-(ls (lone hehrho the cloak of 'i‘tXlltiHltE.
It's a lascrriatrngl; leeak storj. ‘.'.ell toirl l)‘, Brrar‘. Barley. hut 'l.f; properts't‘, to sho'.'. off hrs nast research lets the .'."i<:le th 'ig (lr)‘.'.'l‘r_ ls rt real“, rte:;ess;:r, to -.'.lm,-t.".er ilare ;L~’)llilif; .'.rtr‘ a
cr‘rse: or gent".
krirxt. eras-keg
rrrts<,r-.>.'.e'l the halls.
lBrra". l):>ria’:isohr
JUSTIN CARTWRIGHT White Lightning Sceptre E‘liifii}. 0..
it i t it
lc '.'.'rrte a li()‘.()i rrr the context of \.olatrre South Africa.
tale of meats. lial,r><>rrs.
.'.'()‘.’(}ll through a
arm satirica so: w".
i p: rherrores. arzri lltUl‘ tc successfully create a stoh. that evaluates the rr‘eahrug of self '.'.'ortl‘. shoultl he app:au<ie<l.
', './/'rr:‘e /. g/ttrrxrrg as techrrrcall', prrilrarit. 'lhzs. llt)‘.‘.’(3‘.'til'. (loetirr't E;{i‘.(3 rt lrorr‘ l>err‘g so (:lllll'ti". rirstarit {illtl rrrrtatrrrgiy ohrectrxe at trrrres. ‘Sorhethrhg appalling has happeherl' (lerrotes t're rriur:ic~r of a chrlrl. ahri rt <loesri't rrurte chrrrie ‘.'.rrtl‘. our rhterpretauor‘. of the (;()l‘.l"(ltll(tlt;l‘, pr'ritgigtmrst .Jarrres. (lartrxrrght ()lll‘, hrrits at hrs rriherertt. rrrstrrrr:tr‘.e racrsrr‘. seerr‘rrig alumst
Books
lAMll Y [MAMA TIM PEARS Wake Up rF3l()()rrts;l>rrr’\.' $10.93)) 0...
‘liarly ;\"inctccntlgékntury l-‘rancc ,lmcl [Sal/,3},
m we have "Hm l’curs’ The Times
Not a cosy domestic story
Tim Pears‘ fourth novel gleefully and repeatedly confounds expectations. Opening with a blurrin remembered portrait of a middle—aged man’s working class childhood, we become lured into believing ourselves about to embark on a cosy, family saga.
Early on, John, the protagonist, is exposed as a control freak and hypochondriac, the kind of man who, in the course of a day, would assume himself to be suffering from every high profile disease from E-Coli to new variant CJD to foot~and-mouth. Though outwardly unremarkable, as viewed from the hero’s corporeal and paranoid perspective, John’s world is made weird, alien and animalistic.
The novel is John’s dispassionate account of his relationships with his family and his career as an entrepreneur in the potato processing industry. Pears’ theme is the ways in which we attempt to create our environment in our own image, embodied in John’s disastrous experiments with genetically modified food and, the ultimate conceit, his ‘re-branding’ of his infant son Jake as ‘John Junior’.
At times, the novel does become somewhat schematic, with seemingly every millennial hot topic — GM, globalisation, corporate sponsorship of state schools - becoming a source of debate between the deeply pragmatic John and his rather wishy-washy liberal wife, Lily.
Yet, John’s rambling, ruminative, entirely unreliable narration is made compelling by the fact that his story is constantly surprising. Thoughts, reminiscences and revelations are chucked in as they occur, some trivial, others — such as the moment when John casually admits to an ongoing incestuous relationship with his sister or an allergy to his own son — shocking and disarming. (Allan Radcliffe) urinarllrrrgtogotosach liegohrillrttrcxlt to capiixe.‘ errrpathrse. those ‘.'.t‘(> ilt.(7tit‘f(};l
lllzfltttt)i\l)t:tllllf1‘.‘.lllt
(iarrrrg lengths as lieslrrrrg >ut a ingot. sustaining ar‘ or to:th
/\l‘.fl.fli?.1llll"iill?"tk a:itrrrtetrorr‘a(3arr‘us forte, lt'sfust :ts'xt'v‘e he cau't {iiéltlltil'lt‘w ’
Hannah l\.'i.t'li.'lv
:‘itl:;_‘3l(?. li‘e ’laggre.
.lurstrri (J,irt‘.'.rrr;itt |13‘*.'-.'t?ll
trailer)“, 'te see'r‘s Eli
’l‘_f7'l",( ~rr‘r' (tarry, it's strl'
ft : .‘ f THE LIST 39