On Beauty, Tigers In Red Weather and Everyman For Himself

On Beauty was one of the books that I bought second-hand in Barter Books in Alnwick, Northumberland. The Belseys are a strange family. Originally from the UK, father Howard is the only white member and is a Professor at the fictional Wellington College outside Boston. Zadie Smith's tale of life in and around this University is captivating but too long. The first half of this prize winning novel by Zadie Smith gives us a colourful insight into Howard, wife Kiki and two of the three children. The writing is sharp and witty: "The staircase itself is a steep spiral. To pass the time while descending it, a photographic Belsey family gallery has been hung on the walls". And "a small pool .... missing many of it's white tiles, like a British smile". Whilst the writing is certainly high quality, the story does smack a little of a soap opera, so we cannot always take the whole thing seriously. I was also disappointed with the ending. There could have been a whole book made from the last fifty pages, instead the author thought she ought to wrap it up getting past the 400 mark. Which was a shame as there was much to enjoy in this heartfelt and warm novel.

Tigers In Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann is an above average book for an above average summer. Here we are, close to the beach on the "island" that we all know as Martha's Vineyard. Well those of us who have been lucky enough to have been there. I didn't expect this to be the location, and it is only when place names are mentioned, are we sure. Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs are name checked. Most of the book is set in the July and August of 1959. The Derringers and the Avery's are interesting families. Nick and Helena are cousins and share a love for Tiger House. They have a strained relationship as do their husbands and children. As Nick tells her daughter Daisy: " If there's one thing you can be sure about in this life, it's that you wont always be kissing the right person". When a maid is found murdered we could be in for a crime thriller. Fortunately the author has more interesting things to say about the claustrophobic atmosphere of cocktails and parties. She also creates a clever literary device for the main characters. That is not to say that the book has any great literary pretensions. But the plot rattles along nicely against the backdrop of a hot Cape Cod summer. Liza Klaussmann is one writer I shall be watching for in the future.

The story of the Titanic is so familiar, but Morgan's story in Every Man For Himself  is told with great heart by Beryl Bainbridge. There is a clever lead in before he joins the passengers in first class. This enables him to mix with some interesting characters, but the device that allows him to associate with the designer, Thomas Andrews, and Captain Smith was a little false. Bainbridge's prose is always excellent but this cannot hide what is more of a documentary than creative fiction. I preferred some of her less critically acclaimed novels such as "An Awfully Big Adventure".