Lots of quick Brit-wit but pretty shallow.
The title says it all in this newest in spate of ultraclever British novels that have evolved from semiautobiographical weekly columns—in this case, the author’s Web site of the same name.
Thirty-eight-year-old Pel lives with his German girlfriend Ursula and their two little boys in a renovated Victorian house in a rundown neighborhood in northern England. Pel happily kills time at a completely undemanding job in the IT department of the local university library. But then his direct supervisor disappears and Pel is promoted. He soon finds himself embroiled in various intrigues inherited from his former boss: money must be paid to the Chinese mafia for supplying Asian students; bodies buried under a new university building site have to be disposed of, along with some dangerous neurotoxins; the peculiar sexual proclivities of a retiring faculty member need to be hushed up. Poor Pel never quite understands until too late how the powers that be are setting him up as fall guy. Despite its madcap silliness and broad satire, the plot is actually perfunctory, serving to showcase the real subject matter here: Pel’s relationship with Ursula. How he and she, who have been together for years, originally met remains vague, as does the reason they haven’t officially married even after bearing two children and buying a house together. What Millington, named one of Britain’s best first novelists by The Guardian, does spell out in vivid specifics is their arguing. Much of the story, which retains the episodic feel of strung-together columns, is a running commentary on the couple’s sparring about issues large and small: car keys, household chores, sex, the purchase and renovation of a new house. The contrast between their personalities adds to the frisson: Ursula, a physiotherapist, is organized and focused, perhaps pushy; Pel is disorganized, unfocused, a pushover. Neither is exactly appealing, but both have a sense of humor, and the final domestic crisis/car mishap/career meltdown is hysterically funny, if painful.
Lots of quick Brit-wit but pretty shallow.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2003
ISBN: 0-8129-6666-X
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Villard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
The Yellow Wallpaper meets Rosemary’s Baby in a slim, wonderfully eerie novel.
In a decidedly creepy departure from her debut (Saturn’s Return to New York, 2001: a charmer about mothers and daughters in literary New York), Gran tells of a young woman possessed by a demon.
Amanda narrates as she describes her own frightening decline from a young, happily married architect to a woman she barely recognizes, possessed by the ancient demon Naamah. It begins imperceptibly at first—strange tapping sounds in her loft, increasing discord between her and husband Ed, her taking up cigarettes—but all these things are explained away by common sense: the loft is old and squeaks, she and Ed need more quality time together, stress at work has drawn her back to a bad habit. Perfectly reasonable, but in retrospect Amanda sees these inconsequential changes as signs of the demon taking hold of her. She dreams of Naamah: she and the demon wade in a sea of blood, Naamah, with beautiful black hair and pointy teeth, promises that she will always love Amanda and never leave. Early on, Amanda mail-orders a book on architecture, but instead she’s sent a volume on demon possession. As the months progress, she is able to answer yes to nearly all of the questions under the heading “Are You Possessed by a Demon?” She begins seducing rough men, stealing, lying, almost drowns a child while on holiday, and then commits murder. But instead of taking a more conventional route—like turning to the law—Gran smartly puts the focus inward. For Amanda, the loss of herself, in both body and mind, is far worse than the committing of these horrible crimes. She seeks help, but her doctor and psychiatrist seem to be demons themselves and Amanda begins to see demons everywhere. The tale, fast-paced and claustrophobic, raises a frightening question: Amanda could be going insane, but, in the final analysis, what’s the difference?
The Yellow Wallpaper meets Rosemary’s Baby in a slim, wonderfully eerie novel.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-56947-328-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Soho
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweetly affirmative portrait of mother-daughter love that explores big questions while also providing a riveting narrative of a custody battle. Picoult (The Pact, 1998, etc.) sets her tale in a small New Hampshire town during the last months of 1999 and intelligently addresses, without ever becoming strident or hysterical, such charged topics as mental illness and the existence of God. When Mariah comes home early one afternoon with seven-year-old daughter Faith and surprises husband Colin in bed with another woman, her carefully constructed world threatens to fall apart. The last time Colin was unfaithful, Mariah became suicidally depressed and was hospitalized until shortly before Faith’s birth; this time, after a speedy divorce, she tries to adjust to being on her own, but soon her daughter begins behaving oddly. Faith quotes scriptures she’s never been taught, claims she is speaking to God, miraculously resurrects her grandmother Millie (declared dead after a heart attack), and cures a child with AIDS. As the faithful, the ailing, and the curious gather outside Faith and Mariah’s house, stigmata appear on the girl’s wrists and various religious representatives question her credibility. Television personality Ian Fletcher, who makes a living debunking religion, arrives to do a feature. Distressed by the turmoil and media frenzy, Colin, now remarried, blames Mariah and sues for custody. Mariah, though distraught, finds herself attracted to Ian, who has his own secrets, but before true love and justice can be done, Faith nearly dies and Mariah goes to court, where she must defend herself, her past, and her daughter against an array of hostile witnesses and skeptics. Masterfully telling a story more usually found in the tabloids, Picoult offers a perfectly pitched take on the great mysteries of the heart. Her best yet.
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16825-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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