Forspoken
Ajay Close
Secker & Warburg, #9.99
FASHIONABLE is the world that naturally springs to mind when thinking of Forspoken. The novel is awash with Glasgow trendy types with carefully-prepared appearances who eat stuffed olives, almond croissants, and foccacia.
The characters work as jazz singers, minor television presenters, community writers, and clairvoyants, and live in flats with mazarine chairs, aubergine curtains tied back with gold-tasselled rope, and the original ''range'' intact.
The general backdrop features trendy eating places, atmospheric second-hand clothing stores, and obscure bars. Yet, less salubrious locations and individuals make enough of an appearance to lend a truly fashionable streak of ''reality'' to the whole ensemble.
This obsession with all that is in vogue is apparent from the very first chapter, which is set in a trendy hairdresser's, full of people swopping gossip and having their roots done. Thankfully, however, Forspoken is not just about fashion. Wit and wisdom do work somewhere in the novel. The only problem is finding them under all the layers of style.
The novel follows Tracy Malleus, a rationalist who smiles indulgently at the convictions of those around her, including the beliefs that torture the soul of her celebrity minister lover. Tracy is popular, comfortable, and happy in her adopted Glasgow home until her sister returns from America after a 17-year absence.
Slowly, things begin to go wrong until Tracy's security is finally shattered. Could the curse she has been warned of actually exist? Tracy is forced to re-examine her entire belief system.
Unfortunately, too much veneer disguises this interesting battle between rationality, spirituality, and superstition. Flashes of wit are dulled by their immersion in all things fashionable. The flow of the prose is regularly swamped by painfully odd but carefully selected images and adjectives.
The eye is often tempted to skim past their elaborate descriptions of a cityscape, a room, or a bar's clientele, and seek out the next piece of action, where the interest really lies.
It may all just be a comment on our age, but Forspoken adopts the unmistakable pose of the self-conscious. Close is obviously trying hard, but people who are truly great at something genuinely make it look easy. In Forspoken, the effort is showing.
Gillian Dorricott
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