BOOK REVIEWS
WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE : THE THIRD SPACE
Exposure by Helen Dunmore
Reviewed by Alyson Hilbourne
Set during the Cold War , Helen Dunmore ’ s novel , Exposure , is the story of a spy network in Admiralty and its exposure after one of the network has an accident . Since he is hospitalized and unable to return a top-secret file , Giles calls on an old friend , Simon , to help . Simon picks up the file but immediately regrets his actions . As the story unfolds we learn Simon has a past that he hasn ’ t revealed to his wife , Lily . The secrets , which he thought lay buried , are brought to light as the spy network tries to implicate him in the disappearance of the file . Both Simon and Lily are tested to the limits by the threat of exposure and betrayal . Although this is a story about spies and the Cold War it is more about human emotion and reaction to threats and intimidation . Dunmore keeps the pace going through the story , drip-feeding information about the characters through a series of well-integrated flashbacks . Her language is lyrical . “ His leg , the pain , all gone like the light as you fall down a shaft .” The use of the present tense makes the story very immediate . Her descriptions of life in early 1960 ’ s England are well done and her characters spring from the page , especially the strong and caring Lily , and the seedy , disreputable , Giles . An excellent read and thoroughly recommended .
A
Thousand Splendid Suns by Kaled Hosseini
Reviewed by Hamish Macdonald
Valérie Bourgeois ’ beautiful French translation , ‘ Mille Soleils Splendides ’ ( 2007 ), by Khaled Hosseini made me not only appreciate the skills required of translators but enhanced my appreciation of the quality of the story telling and demonstrated how well crafted prose crosses language barriers . Described by the author as a ‘ redemptive ’ novel to make up for the marginalising of women in his first novel , ‘ The Kite Runner ’, it draws also on his vivid childhood memories of the patriarchal society and diverse culture of Afghanistan against the background of the Soviet invasion , withdrawal , and the power vacuum filled by the warring factions at the end of the Cold War . Two women , Miriam and Laila are forced by traumatic circumstances to become the rival wives of an older man wishing to father a son . Made to wear the burka , and effectively enslaved , a bond develops between them . A powerful and compelling read .
29 | November 2016