Clare Chambers is on a roll. After her excellent Small Pleasures comes another great story. In Shy Creatures we are in 1964 (maybe I'm biased as I was nineteen) and Helen Hansford, an art therapist in a psychiatric hospital is having a thing with Gil, the chief. It's when the silent William Tapping arrives with his aunt (who never recovers from a tragedy) that Helen wants to understand his background. And so begins her quest.
The book then alternates from the sixties, back to when William was a child, living with his aunts. In his later life we wonder why he has never been outside the house in years. This part of the book takes us back in time in steps to reveal a trauma. And that is not when he ventures out, for once, to a fair in the next door park that does not end well. Nor a piece in 1944, when William is seventeen, and playing cards with his aunts. He shuffles and cuts like a croupier even if he has never seen one. "He could cut the deck time and time again one handed and flick and flex them in a neat arc from one hand to the other, or spread and flip them over in a smooth wave".
Back to 1964 and, at Helen's instigation, William, now a permanent patient, is visited by a friend Francis (not seen since their schooldays) and his mother Mrs Kenley. The story of their childhood provides some clues to William's background. I did like how his part of the book was told in stages that take us gradually back in time. And how Mrs Kenley feels somehow responsible for how William has become so with drawn. But those alternating passages that involve the relationship between Helen and Gil I found not quite so interesting. But they do provide a nice counterpoint to William's story.
Two lost souls. Marnie is thirty eight and alone after a divorce. Michael is forty two and not over his split from his wife. It seems they have a mutual acquaintance in Cleo who turns out to be organising a walk on Alfred Wainwrights "Coast to Coast". Of course they both arrive at the first hotel ready for the whole route. There is quite a group and it's handsome Conrad who pals up with Marnie. I was not familiar with the western and northern stretch of the Lake District, we stuck mainly to the southern and central fells. The group dynamic in the first days is quite interesting.
But then suddenly they arrive at the familiar Buttermere and Haystacks. (We found them when we stayed in Keswick in 2008 - see post of 26th June). However, of course it is pouring with rain, the group gradually duck out except for Marnie and Michael who are up for pressing on. And they do. The introduction to part 3 has a section that is by far the most familiar. Grasmere (where we stayed for years) was busy during the day (that's when we were somewhere else - it's very nice early and late). But there is less than a page on Grasmere, except for the pub they visit.
Then more places are familiar: Grisedale Tarn, St Sunday Crag (2005) and Angle Tarn (1995, 2000 and 2016 when we climbed High Street). Back to the story. Marnie and Michael are talking about their lives and after a shaky start, are becoming more friendly. They have their own rooms at the places they stay on the route. However some unexpected events in the last third of the book changes the feel of the book completely. Probably more realistic than a comfortable story, and not poorer for that. Some of the chapters are surprisingly short, averaging six pages. But with You Are Here, this is David Nichols on top form.
Stuart, Gillian and Oliver. They address the reader in shortish pieces, taking you into their confidence. Talking it Over by Julian Barnes is all about their relationships, the first two are married, the men are close friends and knew each other at school and then at University. Oliver is far more erudite than Stuart, but his vocabulary is just a way of showing off. The author has fun with this, all those words we never use in everyday conversation. Oliver ends one chapter with "Yes, I do know, I've used "crepuscular" again.
But Oliver doesn't know what he is talking about when he thinks we still might be "living in mud huts, eating frightful food and listening to Del Shannon records". There's nothing wrong with Del Shannon records. I saw him at the Royal Albert Hall in 1985 and his "Runaway" was a huge hit. It's when Oliver realises that he's in love with Gillian that the book takes a massive turn. The author cleverly describes his inner turmoil. For me, I loved the first half, but the second became a bit of a soap opera. Although the writing is top drawer as usual.
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