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dijeratic
, September 26, 2010
(view all comments by dijeratic)
Ali Smith's first novel is a rich and obsessive journey into the imaginations of three singular women: the first half of the book focuses on Amy - English, glacial and strangely illiterate, living an itinerant existence up and down the coastal villages in Scotland with her young daughter, the incorrigible Kate (who is nearly eight). Amy's secret history is shown in glimpses and guesses as she begins to settle in a small village, aware she needs to give the growing Kate something more permanent, yet unable to control the moments of vague panic, as if something were haunting her. Amy's past begins to catch up with her as she revisits her childhood home and her estranged parents, a respected academic and his successful TV chef wife. Questions keep following her around: is Kate Amy's child? How did she become illiterate? Who is Aisling McCarthy?
The second half of the book illuminates the first, written as the one and only diary of actress and wayward Scot, Aisling McCarthy, who knew Amy when they were teenagers and later, when Amy was a student and scholar at Cambridge University.
The unspoken and unrequited desires of Amy and Ash, make for delicious reading - 'Like' is truly a book for those who like to get lost in the mystery of personal mythologies, in the romance of things that never really happen, that could have or shouldn't have - and how some narratives are at their best when they don't give too much away. Smith's prose is equal parts compassionate and playful, full of hidden, unresolved longings but never devolving into saccharine sentimentality. Her writing will remind you of Virginia Woolf at her most accessible in novels like 'Mrs. Dalloway' or 'Orlando.' There is also a cinematic quality to her tale that almost begs for a filmed version. A wider audience, at least.
Not as experimental as Hotel World or as depressing as The Accidental (nor as skimpy as Boy Meets Girl), Like is still a generous scoop of talent that shouldn't be overlooked. A great read.
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