The History of Love, The Wardrobe Mistress and The London Train

Somewhere in this novel is a superb book trying frantically to burst out of this writer's creative complexity. And I'm not talking about the book within the book called, you've guessed it, "A History of Love". I was less than enthralled by Nicole Krauss's later novel "Great House", but her earlier book had such great reviews. Yes, the prose is very fine, but there is very little plot. There is too much pontificating about past mundane events.

There is an interesting counterpoint between two narrators, Alma Singer is fourteen and Leo Gursky is in his eighties, their narratives are distinctly different in that one uses a clever literary device that becomes boringly repetitive after a while. There is one particular section at a funeral and it's aftermath that shows what a talent Nicole Krauss could be if she stuck to passages like this. 

It's 1947, and in London the theatres are crumbling, even the seats. This terrific novel from Patrick McGrath sets the world of London theatre against dangerous gatherings of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists. Kept locked away during the war, they are trying to re-establish themselves as a political force. Their uniforms are banned, but that does not stop them.

The main character is Joan Grice who has just lost her husband, Charlie Grice, a famous actor. "Was there no end to the qualities she discovered in him now he was dead". In grief, she is trying to come to terms with his death, but stumbles on a horrifying secret he kept from her. At the same time, she is tormented over a new relationship and comforting her daughter.

I loved the construction of the book, I warmed to all the characters despite their flaws, the theatrical aspects were superb (Twelfth Night and The Duchess of Malfi are woven brilliantly into the story) and the atmosphere of post war austerity is real. The narrative uses a clever device, where the chorus describes the action in the first person plural. "We all loved Gricey".

Maybe there could have been more about Joan's work as a wardrobe mistress, but that is not what the book is really about. It's when grief takes it toll.

There is no doubt that Tessa Hadley is a splendid writer. However, like "The Past" and "Clever Girl", she sometimes seems to deviate on peripheral subjects and long descriptions of places and the past. But when she concentrates on the story of her character's relationships, she is a master of her prose. It takes well into the second half of this book, that is split into two, to realise the heart of the story. 

In the first half, Paul is middle aged and at odds with his wife and a daughter from a previous marriage. In the second half we follow the story of Cora, separating from her husband. The title of the book provides the catalyst for what comes next.