Life must be filled up

The title of this book has a double meaning. The Tragedy Paper is a compulsory assignment for all English seniors at the prestigious Irving School; it’s set and marked each year by the charismatic Mr Simon. There has also been a real life tragedy of some sort, played out in the previous year, which is a mystery for most of the book. To flag this up, the first narrator is called Duncan; the second, ‘the albino kid’ who has now left school, is Tim Macbeth.

Duncan arrives at school for the new term still haunted by what happened a year ago. He finds that his new room was previously occupied by Tim. It’s a school tradition that students who’ve graduated leave behind a ‘treasure’ in their room for the next guy. Duncan’s treasure turns out to be a set of CDs on which Tim has recorded his account of the terrible events. Duncan gets so drawn into the story of Tim, his relationship with the lovely Vanessa and her appalling jock boyfriend, that he starts to neglect his work and his own girl, Daisy.

To Duncan’s horror, he finds that he is the senior responsible for this year’s traditional ‘Game’. He remembers last year’s events so vividly, remembers ‘the blood in the snow’, so this responsibility becomes almost too much for him. By the time he’s heard the whole of Tim’s story, he’s practically a wreck but is saved by confiding in Daisy and in Mr Simon.

The school motto is “Enter here to be and find a friend.” Tim finds Vanessa, Duncan has Daisy and his mate Tad but both boys are isolated. What happened to Tim and Vanessa is sad, but is it a tragedy? Duncan tries to work this out in his paper. My only criticism is that there’s not quite enough about school; the students seem to spend all their time eating and hanging out, rather than having lessons. I still liked this book very much; it’s like The Secret History for young teens, and that’s high praise, as I love that book.

The Tragedy Paper will be published by Random House on Jan 8, 2013. I read it courtesy of NetGalley.

You owe me five farthings
Say the bells of St Martin’s
My childhood book says 'halfpence and farthings'.

I came late to Jam Tomorrow and loved it. So as soon as I found out that Monica Redlich had written another girls’ book, Five Farthings, I wanted to read it. Unfortunately, it’s a scarce title. Fortunately, it’s been reprinted by Margin Notes Books and I pre-ordered it as soon as I could. As you can see from the lovely cover, it’s a London book and I recommend it to anyone who likes to read about London; in this book just before the war.

The Farthings of the title are mother, father and three children, not as well off as they used to be, who lose their home and father’s job when the estate he works on has to be sold. Here comes the weak part of the story: father has one of those mysterious illnesses without a name, which might be cured by ‘new electrical treatment’ available only in London. The Farthings move to London, living at first in a crummy hotel and then, thanks to a discovery by the children, in a converted office in the heart of the City, right near St Paul’s. Here’s where the book gets going. The story is told mainly from the point of view of seventeen year old Vivien, who takes over the housekeeping so her mother can go out to work while father is in hospital. Vivien’s discovery of the City of London, its churches, courts and alleyways is at the heart of the book and explains how the Farthings come to see that London has as much to offer as their country home. I was filled with nostalgia by the descriptions of the meals they have in Lyons Corner Houses. I also thought Lyons was absolutely wonderful when I was a child; I swear no one since has sold such splendid buns as you used to get there.

A little gripe about the type-setting; a space before every apostrophe is hard on the eyes. It’s a book about growing up, first love and happy family life and I loved it.