Poignant, perceptive and dazzling, in this, her long
awaited new collection, Helen Simpson offers acute
portraits of lives in transition: of changes for the
better, lives stalled and in freefall; of love, loss,
and sudden revelations. Warm and funny, the stories are
also threaded with a sense of anxiety and fear: of
growing old, of commitment, and, most worryingly, of the
growing threat to the environment. In the title story,
Alan, on a transatlantic flight, is delighted by an
unusual upgrade to a first class seat, but is to find
his journey disturbed by portents of doom; a family
discussion over the fate of a trapped squirrel
unexpectedly veers to nearly reveal a shocking truth;
and a boy contemplates a parallel life after asking his
mother for help with his creative writing homework.
Elsewhere Patrick, newly deaf and belligerent, is forced
to re-examine his life with the help of a supernatural
hearing aid; a profound, heartfelt and distracted prayer
is offered for a friend's health and safety; and in 'The
Festival of the Immortals', two old friends look back on
their lives with joy and regret, as they wait to heckle
Charlotte Bronte.Moving deftly between the domestic and
the fantastical, from tragedy to comedy, this is a
remarkable collection from a master of the genre; each
story brilliantly realised, beautifully captured and
utterly engrossing. |
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