You only have to look at Matthew Kneale's Whitbread prize
winning novel English
Passengers to see that evolutionary theory combined with genetics is a
hot topic for English writers at the moment. As Kneale proved, it is a
subject ripe for wit and farce. Such is the tone of Liz Jensen's social
satire, Ark Baby. Liz Jensen even mentions Gregor Mendel, the Czech Monk
whose games with peas have recently been resurrected by Robin Marantz Henig in A
Monk and Two Peas.
Bobby Sullivan is a vet who lives in a Britain
where no babies have been born since the Millennium. He himself was born on
the day Elvis died, a memorable date in history if ever there was one.
Unbeknownst to him, Bobby Sullivan is going to play a quite considerable role
in evolution. Trouble is, he has to get out of town first, since his
mercy killing of a marriage has got him into a wee bit of trouble. Here,
you begin to see the evolution of Liz Jensen's own creations: 'Giselle'
previously appeared as a short story all of its own, and concerned the disposal
of a dog, rather than a Macaque monkey. There's also an early sight
of Jensen's next novel 'The
Paper Eater' on page 102, when Bobby Sullivan muses that the fate of
Britain may be to become a nuclear waste dumping ground (since there would be
no one living there, due to the fertility crisis). The story also moves
back in time, to the discovery of a curious small baby, abandoned in the church
of Parson Phelps. The good priest, after giving what he thinks is a pig a
good kick on the bottom, repents by taking the child in. The care given
by the Parson and his wife means that Tobias Phelps (as they christen him), can
recover from his injuries. But who is the strange, illiterate woman whose
narrative interrupts the text? Who has been conducting far more ambitious
experiments than Gregor Mendel?
Thus Buck de Savile (Bobby Sullivan's new
identity), arrives in the ancient Viking settlement of Thunder Spit. He
believes that he has successfully escaped the town practice where monkey pets
have replaced children, and is looking forward to inserting his arm into a
cow's bottom. But it's not long before Buck is dragged off to look at
some examples of Victorian taxidermy stuffed into a Thunder Spit attic
inhabited by a comic ghost known as 'the Laudanum Empress', an avid fan of the
crystal box which spews forth 'The Young and the Restless'. We jump back
another 150 years and watch from a balloon as the mortal Laudanum Empress and
her eminent taxidermist husband Ivanhoe Scrapie conceive their last child,
Violet. Thus begins the chain of events which brings Horace Trapp's
bloodstained Ark home, along with chef extraordinaire, Jacques-Yves Cabillaud,
exponent of 'Cuisine Zoologique', a recipe book which he developed whilst
acting as cook on board the Beagle. Meanwhile, Buck gets to grips with
beautiful twin sisters Rose and Blanche and their peculiarly shaped
feet. The twins participate in the mass pregnancy hoax
following the bombing of the National Egg Bank and the death of Albion.
As Rose and Blanche research their family history, Buck begins to wonder
about his stamina and the stuffed 'Gentleman Monkey': could it be
valuable evidence of a missing link?
Parson Phelps tells Tobias that fossils are just
God's little joke, but he takes the publication of Charles Darwin's work very
seriously, to the extent of ripping pages of it from the pulpit. Ivanhoe
Scrapie, frustrated zoologist, also despairs that his fame has been eclipsed by
that of Darwin. But just as Tobias discovers a strange and tantalising
new fruit, so Scrapie thinks that he has found a missing piece of the
puzzle. Violet, who has positively ballooned under the influence of
cuisine zoologique, has a chance encounter with Henry Salt, the Victorian
Vegetarianism activist. Soon, everybody's writing cookbooks...
Liz Jensen's social satire is as vibrant and
readable as ever. Ark Baby has jokes trotting out of it two by two.
She's also quick to point out that Darwinism and evolution theory still resound
today, especially with the mapping of the human genome. Also buried
within these pages are hints of the real life stories and tragedies: the
difficult relationship between Captain FitzRoy of the Beagle and Darwin (echoed
in Matthew Kneale's English Passengers), the interbreeding of the inhabitants
of Thunder Spit recalls Darwin's infertile marriage to his first cousin,
mentions of fossil hunting in Lyme Regis revivifies Mary Anning. But I
think the most successful resurrection of all is that of Henry Salt. Suet
the dog's instinctive reaction is to bite him, but even he sheds a tear as
Henry Salt expounds on the Rights of Animals. Henry Salt's writings are
still as powerful today, and extremely topical as Foot and Mouth runs on.
Liz Jensen's brilliantly entertaining satire should also be as powerful many years
from now. Liz Jensen is nothing less than George Orwell with wit.
Authortrek Rating: 10/10.
Kevin Patrick Mahoney
Visit our Liz Jensen page
Here is more information about Ark Baby's cultural
context:
Bobby Shafto -
here's the full ballad
Bald Words:
Bald-coot - Dr. Baldicoot must be bald!
Genesis:
The Life and Times of Charles Darwin - a bio
Evidence
of God from Nature: Mermaid's Purses - these curious eggs cause Tobias
to question Parson Phelps. In this link, John Clayton takes the contrary
view that Mermaid's Purses are so wonderful that they could only have been
created by God!
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck -
a bio of the precursor to Darwin
Mary
Anning, Finder of Fossils - a bio of this important fossil hunter
Mary
Anning - recounts some of the most fantastic stories of Mary's life,
but also quotes from her obituary and mentions Darwin
Engines of
our Ingenuity: Gregor Mendel
The
people of Genetics: Gregor Mendel
History
of Vegetarianism: on Henry Salt's 'Animal Rights' - a bio of the
campaigner Violet Scrapie meets
