Six Degrees of Separation: The Safekeep

First Saturday of the month and time for the super monthly tag Six Degrees of Separation, which is hosted by Kate at Booksaremyfavouriteandbest, Six Degrees of Separation #6degrees picks a starting book for participants to go wherever it takes them in six more steps. Links to my reviews are in the titles of the books chosen. The starter book this month is:

The Safekeep by Yael Van Der Wouden

The Women’s Prize winner from earlier this year doesn’t really appeal to me, but I note it’s set 15 years after the end of WWII – so the early 1960s. Another novel from then is:

Georgy Girl by Margaret Forster

Georgy is a wonderful creation. She’s enjoying life, but you do feel that underneath she wants to be a homemaker. She’s waiting for her prince to come, and you sense it’s not going to be James, son of a toff who sets her up as his mistress, either. Many parts of this novel reminded me of Beryl Bainbridge’s books which would follow in the 1970s, but Forster isn’t concerned in exploiting the comedy in Georgy’s situation as Beryl would do, instead we empathise with her completely as she explores adult life. Georgy has the best of both worlds. In her early twenties, she has her independence, but she can always go home. Relations with her parents are a bit tense though with them being dependent on James for a living.What I always find interesting in reading books from this period though is the sense of ‘carpe diem’ that pervades them.  The young things in these dramas may not be so far from the kitchen sink, but they do live for the moment, and that keeps  it fresh.

Georgy is short for Georgina, and is also the name of a character in:

The Black Dog by Kevin Bridges

The Glasgow comedian’s debut novel was a delight. Declan, who is in his early twenties, stacks shelves at the supermarket part-time and dreams of becoming a writer, like his idol James Cavani, who 20 years earlier had escaped their shared hometown to become a feted scriptwriter, actor and director. But there is a darkness in his head that battles to overcome his dreams. His pet labrador, Hector, and his best friend Doof Doof (whose real name we will eventually discover) and his mum who always worries for him, help to keep him grounded. That night when he meets Doof Doof later in the pub, Declan is wired and boozed up already having needed a few shots to help calm down after his creative writing class, so when a group of hangers on of the local drugs baron start being rude to barmaid Georgie, whom Declan really fancies, Declan stands up for her and hits one of them, and he finds his card is marked. Even worse, one of this group is Jordan, who used to be Declan’s best friend before he turned to the dark side. Declan begins to descend into depression and paranoia at the thought of what they may be planning for him…

The novel is set in Glasgow, as is:

Squeaky Clean by Callum McSorley

This crime debut set in a car wash introduces us to DI Alison ‘Ally’ McQuoist (Ally McCoist is a fitba pundit and former St Johnstone and Glasgow Rangers player), a flawed police officer and divorced parent who is useless at parenting. The prologue explains how she was led to send the wrong man to prison in a murder case – the evidence was clear to her – but Paul ‘Paulo’ McGuinn escaped and now runs his empire from the car wash where Davey works. Davey is trying to get custody of his daughter back, but once Paulo is back, he’s soon in over his head and needing an ally… A superb first novel, but be warned there are some very nasty scenes.

Another author using a famous person’s name for their fictional character is:

He by John Connolly

John Connolly is author of the Charlie Parker detective novels, but as I last read one pre-blog, I’ll sub-link to his novel about Stan Laurel instead. In this fictional biography, Connolly employs a dual timeline approach. We have the very elderly Stan living out his last days by the sea in a Santa Monica apartment with his fourth wife Ida. He never stops thinking about Hardy, whom Stan always refers to by his nickname Babe. Connolly also works forward from the inception of Laurel’s career as a music hall performer in Glasgow (which links back above), where his family had moved from Ulverston. Laurel had a natural talent and joined Fred Karno’s troupe which was going to America. This was where Laurel encountered Charlie Chaplin whom Laurel understudied and revered. But eventually, he meets ‘Babe’ – Oliver Hardy, when they both worked on a film in 1921.  A slowburn but immersive novel.

Laurel and Hardy also feature in this novel

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster

Auster is a big L&H fan, and in one part of his Booker-shortlisted chunkster there is a long discussion about them – but a small part of this novel in four lives. After the introduction, we follow four possible life trajectories for Archie Ferguson. We follow Archie growing up four times, becoming an adolescent four times, experiencing first love four times and so on.  For the most part, the same characters appear, from Stanley’s brothers, to Rose’s sister and Archie’s cousins – but Archie’s relationship with them varies, except with his mother Rose, who is constant. The novel ends in 1970 when the Archies are 30, and the most transformative part of their lives is done. Each reader will grow to prefer one of other of the Archies – for me it was number 3 – the most sensitive, but Archie no 4 who becomes a journalist was also interesting.

Another book with numbers in the title is:

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

‘It was a pleasure to burn.’  is one of the most iconic opening lines of a novel. Bradbury’s 1953 novella is scarily prescientnot only about banning books, but also reality TV. Following the increasing dissatisfaction with life of ‘Fireman’ Guy Montag whose job is to burn books. It’s all put into context for him when he bumps into a young girl on his way home from work who asks ‘Is it true that long ago firemen put fires out instead of going to start them?’ I shall leave you with that thought!

This month I’ve gone from the 1960s to the present and back to the 1950s with a 1920s detour; from swinging London to Glasgow then over to Hollywood via New York. Where and when will your 6 degrees take you?