Camilla, a teacher, is on her way to spend the school summer holidays with the older Frances. Also there will be Camilla's friend Liz and her new baby. The father, a clergyman, only arriving later. But at the station, Camilla is faced with a tragedy, alongside one Richard Elton on his way to a nearby town. Their platonic relationship over the next couple of weeks forms part of this novel. But is Richard to be trusted. The author gives us some insight into his past life that might be a danger to Camilla. He talks to her on their walks about his struggles after the war. And running out of the gratuity he was awarded at it's end.
However, it is how the three women get on that is the most interesting part. Frances is a painter and her thoughts about what inspires it are particularly good. They are all lost in some way, but this is a genteel part of England where they can go for walks and outings. As usual in her books, there are those vivid descriptions and that cutting humour that is so good. There are piles of books that prop up furniture in their rickety cottage. Camilla changing her hair "at once becoming a different woman and ready to behave differently to match".
Frances considers her painting. "life itself is an unfinished sentence, or a few haphazard brush strokes". There is actually quite a lot where the characters tell us their inner thoughts. This is classic Taylor. Although it has been described as her "darkest novel" in the introduction by Helen Dunmore, I found those aspects to be more on the periphery. For me it is about these three women who are all single (Liz might as well be) and coming to terms with the end of the war, "in the blistering heat of an English summer". But more than anything it's the glorious prose as you dawdle through each paragraph of this short book to get the feel of the characters. Wonderful.
"Intermezzo" is a step up for Sally Rooney. Her first three novels were possibly for readers a lot younger than me. Her latest is quite a long book where there are basically just five characters. The main two are brothers, Peter in his thirties, a Dublin lawyer and Ivan just twenty two. So much of the book contains their thoughts about their relationships with Sylvia, Naomi and Margaret. So not "Conversations With Friends", more "Conversations With Lovers". Sometimes there are six or seven pages of unbroken prose, not even a paragraph. This was slightly daunting for me at the beginning, but once used to this continual introspection (and almost having to read it out loud) you get what the author is trying to say.
What I also found interesting was that the prose is different when a piece is about Peter or Ivan. Peter's is sometimes all over the place: "Hadn't realised how hungry he was until ..." or "Under what conditions is life endurable? She ought to know. Ask her. Don't" and then later "Used to live around here, before. When she." Ivan's prose is more straightforward to reflect his personality. Peter is successful in his career, Ivan is a chess prodigy. They don't get on. Their relationships are also very different. But very very interesting. The final part is just over a hundred pages when the story ramps up. It is just wild and brilliant as paths cross.
I was not that impressed by Rooney's fist novel "Conversations With Friends" but loved her second "Normal People". Both were full of relentless dialogue. I wasn't sure to begin with about her third "Beautiful World, Where Are You" but loved it in the end. Now we have a fabulous grown up piece of fiction and cannot wait for what's next.
Well that was different. A book by a Japanese author that has so much about food. Buying ingredients, cooking and serving. Time and time again long detailed passages about preparing meals, baking etc etc comes into the narrative. I have to say some later descriptions I raced through. Rika Machida is a single thirty year old and has a close friend in Reika. (Why did she have to have such a similar name?) Their relationship is finally tested when Rika, a journalist, has a number of visits to a notorious accused murderer in the Tokyo Detention Centre. Manako Kajii is a female celebrity of sorts. Their conversations are some of the most interesting in the book. They have a mutual interest in ...... yes, food! Rika is somehow in awe of this awful person, "can we be friends?". Kajii's reply is "I don't need friends I only want worshippers".
However, apart from these visits, there is hardly any story. So half way I was about to give up. But then suddenly came something more interesting. No, not five pages about visiting a cow shed. It's her friend Reiko's husband Ryosuke who turns up at her work to tell her that Reiko has disappeared. Not answering her phone. Is this anything to do with Reiko now visiting Kajii? With the rest of the book told in the third person, there is this shortish chapter with Reiko in the first person that is a welcome diversion. So the final part is something of a quest as Rika goes in search of her friend.
However, to summarise, there is so much about Japanese culture in this book. How much people are perceived and criticised. It's Rika's part time partner Makoto who sums it up with "there is no need to care what other people think" which seems really hard in Japanese life.
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