- This is a delightful and delicate novel, beautifully written. But, unfortunately, it's not without faults.
- It's a story of grandparents and their grandkids. Two sisters, who happen to be twins, are separated during WW2. 'Babi' stays in Prague and looks after the young boy Ludek, and Mana and her husband Bill migrate to Melbourne and are looking after the girl Mala.
- The children's actual parents are a generation lost through the upheaval of WW2 and later Soviet control of Czechoslovakia. Parrett refuses to indulge in any political scrutiny or critique at all, only briefly referring to some incidental events that contrast the two societies.
- Two intelligent and sensitive grandkids are living with and loving their grandparents and enjoying their lives.
- But, frankly, it’s all a bit too nice. There's absolutely no tension, generational or otherwise, and the kids rarely inquire into their real parents' lives and whereabouts or whether they'll ever see them again. Parrett never discloses much detail about the kids either, for example, how old they are, who their friends are, or how they're faring at school.
- It's a novel about ordinary domestic habits which bond families. There's a lot of focus on cooking and favourite foods, cigarette and pipe smoking, and the enjoyment of music, classical and popular. But it's slight. In the end there is little substance to it, and I needed more.
- Parrett's prose is gorgeous, but she indulges a little too much in obfuscation. There’s not a lot of clarity at times and that’s frustrating.
- If there is a main character in this short novel it is the boy Ludek. But we are only left to wonder what happens to him in Prague at the end. He is forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment