Books we like ... and books we're not too fussed about
Zoë Heller
Fig Tree 2008
I really enjoyed this, after a lean end to the year. Heller tells the story of a New York Jewish family and their reactions to the sudden illness of the father, a radical lawyer. As the title suggests, she is interested in exploring different types of belief – religious, political, social – and does so up to a point. What’s more interesting, however, is the snapshot she gives of various individuals and their lives. The central character Audrey, the mother, is thoroughly obnoxious but compellingly drawn, and the story is always involving. The ending is a little far-fetched, perhaps there to make a point for Heller about the importance of belief, but it doesn’t really detract from the whole - and the novel is certainly more credible than a lot of the whimsy I have wasted my time on recently. It’s also very funny. In the end, through perhaps not quite as good as her previous novel, Notes on a Scandal, it’s well worth a few hours of your time.
4th January 2009
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Author/AuthorPage/0,,1000044810,00.html
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