A Sweet Obscurity

Patrick Gale is one of the best novelists writing today, yet seems under-recognised by prize-givers. In this, his latest in a long line of excellent books, he gives us a family relationships saga that is sharply funny as well as moving. Tangled affairs and family secrets rarely come as sensitively depicted and their unravelling is rarely as satisfying as in this novel.
Gale is one of those writers who can show the point of view of both men and women with understanding and intelligence. None of his characters are stereotypes or make-weights and his plots are beautifully constructed and edged with a real grounding in whatever milieu he chooses to explore. We are whipped from a recherché opera rehearsal in Convent Garden, to a bleak show more farmhouse in Cornwall, to a dusty tutorial in Oxford, all with faultless ease.
At the emotional heart of this novel is a small girl, Dido, and her aunt Eliza who has brought her up after the death of her mother. Eliza made a terrible mistake, it seems, in leaving her wealthy, opera-singer husband Giles, for a loveable rogue who turned out not to have a heart of gold. On the death of Eliza’s mother, a long-suppressed secret threatens to blow several lives apart. show less

The blurb describes A Sweet Obscurity as follows: "At nine years old, Dido has never known what it's like to be part of a proper family. Eliza, the clever but hopeless aunt who has brought her up, can't give her the normal childhood she craves. Eliza's ex, Giles, wants Dido back in his life, but his girlfriend Julia has other ideas. Then an unexpected new love interest for Eliza causes all four to re-evaluate everything and sets in motion a chain of events which threatens to change all their lives."

Having read the first four or five chapters, I struggled to make a link between the blurb and the book I was reading. Yes, there was a nine-year-old Dido about but she didn't come across quite as central as the blurb had led me to think. I show more would have said that the novel was largely about the four grown-ups, not Dido. I'm not denying that Dido is a central character but the centrality does not really become clear until the last fifty pages or so. And on the level of causation, while Eliza's new love interest appears to cause a number of things, I would say two events turn out to be more significant - Eliza's mother on her deathbed, while coming across as a minor-ish event in the book has a bigger role in pure causation that the love interest - and whatever happened to Eliza's sister Hannah when she was about ten. The latter is alluded to fairly early on but the reader only finds out towards the end and discovers the significance of a few other events alluded to.

I liked all the central characters - even if they weren't very likeable at all times - and loved the way the narrative kept moving from one to the other, occasionally giving one event from several viewpoints. The book moves between London and Cornwall - for the most of the time the connections are interesting once they begin to take form - but towards the end I did feel it was taken a bit too far. But on the other hand, coincidences, used in moderation, are effective, so I'm mostly undecided on this point.

I found it really hard to put this book down while simultaneously wished I wouldn't reach the end too soon. show less

To start with, this is what the blurb says about the novel: "At nine years old, Dido has never known what it's like to be part of a proper family. Eliza, the clever but hopeless aunt who has brought her up, can't give her the normal childhood she craves. Eliza's ex, Giles, wants Dido back in his life, but his new girlfriend Julia has other ideas. Then an unexpected new love interest for Eliza causes all four to re-evaluate everything and sets in motion a chain of events which threatens to change all their lives."

After reading the first five chapters or so I was rather puzzled as I seemed to be reading a completely different story from the one described in the blurb.

As far as I could see, Dido wasn't quite as central as a character as show more the blurb made it sound. However, having finished the book I'm more inclined to see Dido at the heart of the book, although the book, to me, is less about Dido than it is about Eliza, Giles and Julia. But I don't quite agree with the blurb about causation - to me it seemed that the underlying causes of various things in the novel are - whatever happened to Eliza's sister Hannah when she was about ten (the reader only finds out what towards the end) and Eliza's mother dying because it sends Eliza out of her flat.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. Gale writes wonderful books that keep you on the edge throughout.

In certain respects, Gale sees A Sweet Obscurity as a companion to Rough Music. show less

A really good read! Dido, a girl (10) lives in London with her single mother Eliza, who is in fact her aunt (her real mother died when Dido was still a baby). The mother's husband, Giles, has always been a father to her, but they are now divorced and Giles is living with his girlfriend Julia.

When Eliza's mother falls ill (and dies), Eliza and Dido go to see her in Cornwall. It turns out that Eliza grew up here. The neighbour in Cornwall has a caravan that Eliza and her daughter can stay in for a few weeks so they can take it easy after the funeral.

Eliza falls in love with a local farmer and Dido finds out things about herself and her real mother that no girl would want to know.

Things don't all end well... but the end is still show more satisfactory. The only thing that really bothered me, was what happened to the manuscript that appears half-way the book - and how understanding the reaction of the people people involved was, this was totally unacceptable for me!

A pleasant and good read. Recommended! show less

Een heel fijn boek om te lezen. Ik was ziek toen ik het las en ik heb me er helemaal ingestort. Spannend, intrigerend. Enig minpuntje was de af en toe opduikende toevalligheid (zoals het gevonden muziekstuk van Trevescan). Maar een absolute aanrader. Trouwens alles wat ik tot nu toe van Patrick Gale heb gelezen. Dat belooft nog wat voor de toekomst.