Like Angela Huth's Of Love and Slaughter, Thin Air is a novel
about the travails of modern love against the backdrop of foot and mouth and a declining
countryside. William Harriman has retired from the Treasury a decade
before, and is beginning to feel the effects of old age. Janice Harper, a
'Shropshire Lass', is going nowhere fast until Mary, William's mad cousin,
declares that she must go to London. Janice thinks this is a pretty good
idea, as she is getting fed up with still living with her parents at the age of
23 - and besides, they keep asking her when she's going to move out, get
married etc. A brief dalliance with a tree surgeon does not fix her life
in quite the romantic way that she had hoped, and so an escape from delivering
groceries to old dears to go to London seems more and more attractive.
William, meanwhile, is far more concerned with the fragility of his connections
to his daughter, Claire. Having lost his wife, Eve, to cancer ten years
before, and with his son Matthew in a mental home, William's only confidant and
friend is Buffy, with whom he runs an antique stall (whilst she's not off
staking vampires, obviously). It seems to William that Claire has
only got a loose grip on her life, and that her she needs some escape from the
stresses of bringing up a family of three. Yet, although William is
regularly invited round his daughter's house, the visits are never that pleasurable
due to the gulf between them. Claire brushes off William's offers of
help, and he is consciously aware that he must never push too far, for fear of
pushing her away forever. But it becomes increasingly clear that there is
not just a gulf between William and Claire, but between her and everyone
else, even her husband Jeremy. It's in this frame of mind that William
replies to Mary and Janice's letters - perhaps Janice is the tonic that
they've all been looking for?
Of William's mad cousins in Shropshire, it's Ernie who
misses Janice the most, if only for her pitiful rations of Virginia Gold.
Without Janice, siblings Mary, Sophie, and Ernie must run the Dog Museum
as best they can. Theirs' is a pitiful existence. Ernie lives in a
leaky old caravan, perpetually threatened by an old oak that is itself in
need of a bit of tree surgery, and Janice dares not to think what the rest
of the family home is like, beyond the sustaining fire in the
kitchen. The Dog Museum - a series of dioramas showing working dogs in
action that Ernie created years before - is beginning to get invasions of
mice and spiders and that old dust called entropy. The one thing that
gets the Shropshire Harrimans out of bed each morning, though, is their
collection of stray dogs, which gets bigger all the time, as they cannot afford
to get the dogs spayed, and besides, they love puppies. As Foot and Mouth
knocks on neighbouring doors, the Shropshire Harrimans' livelihood is
threatened. With no visitors to the Dog Museum, how will they ever
survive?
I was recently at a talk given by Angela
Huth (promoting her latest novel, Of Love and Slaughter), when she
said that most novelists nowadays don't seem to address current issues and
concerns, such as Foot and Mouth, and what is happening to the
countryside. Although I have wondered why so many current British
novelists are still stuck in the Second World War (for
instance), Angela Huth's comment did strike a chord.
However, like Angela Huth, Sue Gee does have a rural upbringing and plenty
of perspective to bring to such issues. It's Buffy (the latter day
Friends of the Earth convert), and Janice (the vegan cake-maker),
who most often bring to the fore the environmental issues of the day.
Janice willingly concedes that there is something contrary about being a vegan
who bakes cakes, and if everyone were vegan, there would be no need for fields
to be filled with the cows and sheep that Buffy wants to be treated
humanely. Buffy, at every change in the weather, is constantly reminding
William that their grandchildren are going to curse them for what they have
allowed to happen to the planet. William notes with some surprise that,
due to climate change, his grandson Piers will only see snow in London for the
first time at the grand old age of ten. But then again, weren't all those
snows in Dickens' childhood quite unusual? Meanwhile, the birds seem to
be disappearing, with only two resolute owls coming back each year. Sue
Gee does not pretend that she has any easy answers or solutions - it's left to
Ernie to wonder at all the townie crackpots who are buying up and doing up all
the old local farmhouses. Nothing perhaps, beyond the injection of some
much needed-cash.
Whilst these environmental themes are dealt with subtly and
effectively, there are some other devices that Sue Gee used that I did not like
so well. This may make me look a bit harsh, but then Sue Gee is Programme
Tutor for Middlesex University's Writing Programme MA, so she must be used to this
sort of criticism. Having said that, some of these errors should have
been spotted by her publisher's copy editors. On lucky page 13, the
boiler engineer has his "horny hand" licked by William's dog, Danny -
an unwitting double entendre if ever there was one. On page 212, Sue Gee
suddenly decides to embrace the American novel, when Buffy becomes
"Buddy" - a typo that should have been spotted and removed.
However, what really makes it quite difficult to get the drift of this novel
from the go is Sue Gee's use of flashbacks. On page 21, Janice hangs up
her coat in the cafe she works in, and then proceeds to dip in and out of
three different time zones by reflecting on several conversations
internally. While this might be quite naturalistic, it's quite
off-putting for anyone who isn't Janice (i.e. the reader). Okay, so by
doing this, Sue Gee telescopes time and makes Thin Air that much more compact,
but you do wish she could have done this more effectively (then again, unlike
Arthur Miller, she doesn't have all the theatrical effects to pull on to
produce flashbacks like Willie Loman's). Martin and his parents just seem
to be in the book to remind Janice of what she's left behind in Shropshire at
strategic moments. There is also some ghastly use of repetition -
He shakes his head, but he's comforted. How good love is.
'How
good love is'
-
says William on page 270, with all the profundity of a Vulcan from Star
Trek. Having said that, Sue Gee presents two very good love stories
in the novel, and some quite superb moments of understated horror (pages 207
and 236). Her treatment of mental health issues is, for the very most
part, sympathetic, subtle, and questioning. Without doubt, her portrayal
of the distant Claire is sublime and spot on. Yes, Sue Gee writes, love
can be a wonderful restorative, and our heroes do get to stroll off into the
sunset; but darkness must also fall with the sun...
Authortrek rating:
7/10
Kevin
Patrick Mahoney
Visit
our Sue Gee page
There
now follows a series of links related to the novel. The pages numbers are
taken from the hardcover edition, so I have also included chapter numbers for
those reading different editions.
They
fly forgotten, as a dream/Dies at the opening day - Chapter 1 page 8 -
this comes from the hymn, 'O God, Our help in ages past' by Isaac Watts, an
adaptation of Psalm 90. No doubt William is inspired to hum this by its
mention of the 'stormy blast' and "flood" by Buffy's phone call about
the floods. He's probably heard her sing it in her choir too.
It's all I have to
bring today - Chapter 2 page 23 - the complete text of the poem by
Emily Dickinson
Out of
Sight? What of that? - Chapter 2 page 23 - the whole poem
To
the manner born - Chapter 4 page 30 - or To
the Manor Born? - Shakespeare or crappy BBC sitcom? The debate
rages on, both uses would appear to be correct
We Three Kings -
Chapter 7 page 54 - the authorised version
Henri
Matisse 1944 - Chapter 9 page 74 - this is the famous Cartier-Bresson
photograph that Sue Gee refers to
Camden Town Group -
Chapter 9 page 75 - a couple of pictures from this movement
Mary Ward Centre - Chapter 11
page 95 - is a real learning centre
The
excessive burning of oil, gas and coal is raising our planet's thermostat to
unacceptable levels - Chapter 11 page 99 - is something that Dr Jeremy
Leggett says excessively (Sue Gee seems to have taken a direct quote).
It's a great pity that more governments are not listening to Dr. Leggett
Blest Pair of Sirens -
Chapter 11 page 101 - is where the "Where the bright Se-ra-phim, in
burning row" comes from - written by Milton, arranged by Sir Hubert Parry
Concatenation -
Chapter 12 page 108 - the definition
The Clink Prison museum -
Chapter 14 page 141 - find out was life was really like "in the
clink"
What's wrong with wines and
beers - Chapter 14 page 142 - Vegans can still get drunk, but it can
be a thirsty process finding the right bottle
Red
Scales in the Sunset - Chapter 14 page 142 - all you ever needed to
know about cochineal - apparently scale insects are very lazy, but the males
live short and excitingly reproductive lives
Kipling comes
under review - Chapter 20 page 212 - Buffy's probably referring to the
Andrew Lycett biography
My
Boy Jack 1916 - was a poem Kipling wrote in response to the loss of
his son
Crossing the Bar - Chapter
20 page 213 - the full text, with more details about Parry
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