Book Review: Missing the Midnight, by Jane Gardam

From The British Library

Missing the Midnight is a small collection of short stories by English writer Jane Gardam. I have the hardback edition, which has a few more pages than the paperback because of the formatting. It's physically smaller than most books, it's a format which suits the writing, and it would make a cute gift. There are twelve stories in this book, grouped under three themes:

1. Five Carols

These are short stories set at Christmas. The first, 'Missing the Midnight' is from the point of view of a girl who has just dropped out of university coming home on Christmas Eve. 'The Zoo At Christmas' follows a group of animals as they leave the zoo to go to midnight mass. The others are 'Old Filth', about a retired lawyer at home alone on Christmas after his wife has passed away - this character was later the focus of a novel of the same name, 'Miss Misteltoe', about a woman considered a parasite by the people who always have her to dinner at Christmas, and finally 'Christmas Island', a strange story about creatures born to humans who devour the world.

2. Five Grotesques

These are quirky, fairytale-like stories and I enjoyed this section the most. 'Grace' is about a man with a diamond in the back of his neck and 'Light' is set in the Himalayas and tells the story of a girl with no eyes in the front of her head but one in her throat. 'The Girl With The Golden Ears' follows the attempts of fashion editor Eglantine Fosche-Grille to get rid of the golden hair that has started to grow from her ears, whilst 'The Boy Who Turned Into A Bike' is about a bike fanatic called Clancy and Nancy, the woman he loves. This section concludes with 'The Pillow Goose', about two women who find themselves with a flock of geese prized for their feathers.

3. Two Hauntings

'Soul Mates' is a creepy story about a couple who meet another pair just like themselves on a retirement holiday, and 'The Green Man' is a short novella about the mythical figure. I didn't really 'get' either of these stories, the first was short enough for it not to matter but 'The Green Man' seemed to drag.

Some of these stories are quite strongly religious, and I did not enjoy that element of the collection because I am not religious myself. However, Gardam's characterisation is excellent and I enjoyed the stories because the characters were all so interesting even if I didn't like the morals some of them express. The stories I enjoyed the most are 'Miss Misteltoe', because it has a clever twist, 'Grace', 'Light' and 'The Boy Who Turned Into A Bike'. The middle section 'Five Grotesques' was definitely my favourite.

I think this book is best read at Christmas even if you are not a Christian - it can feel strange to read Christmas stories at any other time. It would make a nice Christmas gift for someone who likes books but you don't know very well - there should be something in here that most people will enjoy.

I probably won't read this again but it was a interesting and quick seasonal read.

Book Review: The Hawk Dancer, by Diana Saville

From The British Library

Claire Farley, a calm, professional writer of history articles living in Herefordshire, has tolerated her husband's many affairs, forgiving him each time, and after the most recent, believing that she was partly to blame because she stays in the countryside most of the time whilst he goes to London to work. She tries to convince herself that he is getting too old to have affairs, but her unhappiness is growing

When a son of a friend wants a pet hawk, she offers to house it and help look after it. She ends up fully participating in its training, and as she learns to train the wild bird, her confidence grows. She also meets a wildlife photographer and begins to build a relationship with him. She's never been able to tolerate the idea of having an affair herself before, but this time, things might be different.

I did enjoy this book but it didn't "grab" me and I wasn't convinced by the characters. They are all very middle-class, nobody in the novel has anything really to worry about beyond their relationships. The writing style was hard for me to get into, there was some lovely description, particularly of the hawk training around which the story of the human relationships is built, but the author just tells us how the characters felt a lot of the time and avoids showing us their thoughts and physical reactions. They are all very reserved people and this annoyed me, I just couldn't relate to them. The book stays mostly with Claire's point of view but sometimes switches around, and I felt that the characterisation of the other characters was weak, especially Claire's daughters.

I received this book through a swap at ReadItSwapIt and I probably never would have bought it myself. It's unlikely I'll re-read it or bother picking up anything else from this author, but it may be someone else's cup of tea.