Categories: books
Date: 27 February 2009 10:48:48
You may remember that I read Rose Tremain for the first time back in September. The novel under review on that occasion was Music and Silence. I was not impressed.
The Road Home was recommended by a friend so I decided in my magnanimous way to give Ms Tremain the benefit of the doubt. And I'm glad I did.
The story revolves around Lev, an economic migrant to the UK from an unmentioned Eastern European country. It relates all the problems he faces from finding somewhere to live, work, and generally a space in which he feels "at home". I don't just mean somewhere to lay his hat - but an emotional acceptance by the host community and his own emotional acceptance of his new surroundings.
He has a daughter, mother and best mate back home and throughout the novel there is a sense of this heart-ache - being torn between the two places - one where there are people he loves and the other where there is work and a better future - and yet not ever earning enough to be able to bring his family over. His family think he is mean because he sends them £20 a week which has enormous buying power in their country . They think he must be rich and wonder why he doesn't send more/come home to see them but the reality is that this financial support leaves him scratching around because it is effectively the thin cushion between walking hours to work and taking the bus. Tremain perfectly captures the feelings of someone in a foreign land - where there is a massive gulf of knowledge when doing the most mundane of things.
Perhaps gentle readers can clear up one little confusion with the story for me. Lev meets two Chinese migrants. Their English is ropier than his and Tremain tries to show this by writing in the way that they speak. Amusingly, they call him Rev and their boss Big Berry (it took me ages to work out the joke here). I thought that Chinese speakers have a problem pronouncing the English "R" - which leads to the joke "flied lice" on takeaway menus. Here it seems to be the other way round - and Big Berry is really Big Belly. Not a huge issue - but do any of my gentle readers have any knowledge of Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese)? Can you clarify this for me?
In the meantime, I'll take the book back to the library so that you can order it!