Page 18 - Phonebox Magazine August 2016

Book Review
Us by David Nicholls
DHeather Carroll
ouglas and Connie arrive with a bump into middle-age. Their silver wedding looms on the horizon and their only child, Albie, is off
to university in the autumn. As they start to contemplate their future, Connie drops a bombshell – she wants to leave Douglas. For her, the marriage has run its course and seeing their son off to pastures new gives her the perfect opportunity for a fresh start. In a last-ditch attempt to salvage his marriage and give his son a great send-off, Douglas organises a holiday of a lifetime. A “Grand Tour of Europe”. An opportunity to visit the major art galleries of European cities. What could possibly go wrong...?
What follows is a furiously paced romp around the major cities of Europe, interspersed with Douglas recalling happier times: his early
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One Day. Nicholls has the uncanny ability to make the reader laugh out loud, and yet create moments that bring a lump to your throat. A thoroughly enjoyable summertime read!
one available. Perhaps Franklin would see things differently; certainly that would seem so from his behaviour towards his son as recorded by Eva.
‘We need to talk about Kevin’ was awarded the Orange prize for ction, a prize given for an outstanding rst novel. Its originality, vivid descriptive passages and occasional dark humour make it well worth that accolade.
We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
MThelma Shacklady
s Lionel Shriver has produced a challenging and thought- provoking book which is not for the faint-hearted. Written as
a series of letters from Eva to her husband Franklin, from whom she is now separated, it centres around their son, Kevin. There are enough clues in the rst letter to make the reader aware of what Kevin had done and the consequences of his action, then, subsequently Eva’s account of her visits to her son in prison present a picture of her sixteen-year-old.
Her letters then revert to Kevin’s early years – his aversion to breast milk, her diagnosis of post-natal depression, her failure to ‘bond’ with her new-born. It is as though Eva is seeking, through the letters to her husband, to nd a reason for Kevin’s later behaviour. The correspondence continues, giving a
18 Phonebox Magazine | August 2016
years as a scientist and falling in love with his wife. Where did it all go wrong? The tour of Europe takes on a farcical element, with the hilariously funny, yet deeply-felt horrors of Douglas being unable to do right for doing wrong. The harder he tries to impress his son and excite his wife, the more upset he causes until he runs out of enthusiasm and causes near-irreparable damage to his relationships. Longlisted for the Man Brooker prize 2014, David Nicholls’ novel is, in essence, a heart- breaking journey of two adults questioning their relationship with each other, whilst dealing with the challenge of what it means to be a parent. It is compulsively readable with an intricate balance of humour and poignancy and in nitely likeable characters – something fans of this author will recognise from his other novels: Starter for Ten, The Understudy and
picture of a difficult toddler, unwilling to acquire the skills needed to progress – still in nappies at six years old, apparently without language skills, though subsequently we learn that he was able to speak and to read, but chose not to display the fact. And then the chilling stories begin, perhaps the worst being the accident which happened to his little sister, the colourless Celia. Eventually, in the penultimate letter, there is a detailed account of exactly what happened in Gladstone High School on the day Eva always refers to as Thursday. Also revealed is why Celia is with her father, rather than with the mother to whom she clung throughout her early childhood. There are many questions for discussion which arise throughout this unusual novel, questions which make it a good book club choice. One which occurs is whether the reader can trust Eva’s account of events, since that is the only