My best book for 2018
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The Blurb:
Maurice Swift is handsome, charming, and hungry for success. The one thing he doesn't have is talent - but he's not about to let a detail like that stand in his way. After all, a would-be writer can find stories anywhere. They don't need to be his own.
Working as a waiter in a West Berlin hotel in 1988, Maurice engineers the perfect opportunity: a chance encounter with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann. He quickly ingratiates himself with the powerful - but desperately lonely - older man, teasing out of Erich a terrible, long-held secret about his activities during the war. Perfect material for Maurice's first novel.
Once Maurice has had a taste of literary fame, he knows he can stop at nothing in pursuit of that high. Moving from the Amalfi Coast, where he matches wits with Gore Vidal, to Manhattan and London, Maurice hones his talent for deceit and manipulation, preying on the talented and vulnerable in his cold-blooded climb to the top. But the higher he climbs, the further he has to fall..
The Review
John Boyne will be in conversation on Wednesday 13th March as part of the UEA Spring Literary Festival and you can get tickets here
This is a story about how far one person is prepared to go in order to satisfy their ferocious ambition. When we first meet Maurice he is young, charismatic, handsome and eager to please. It is testament to Boyne's writing that his incredibly manipulative nature does not become obvious for some time .For a while we naively believe, as Erich Ackermann does, that he has befriended him in order to understand more about the creative process and about how to best deploy his art as a budding writer.
We quickly learn that Maurice has everything needed to become an author - dedication, aptitude, ambition, perseverance...he just lacks that one all-important trait - creativity. Yes, that's right, Maurice struggles to come up with interesting plots and it soon becomes apparent that he has absolutely no qualms about finding a story from anywhere and claiming it as its own. In part one, we see the story from Ackermann's perspective, where Maurice ingratiates himself to the point of learning all of Ackermann's deepest, darkest secrets and from then on it is clear he can't be trusted.
The story is told in 3 parts (plus an interlude, told from the viewpoint of the infamous Gore Vidal - the only character in this story to see Maurice for what he really is and call him out on it. A moment, that in itself was immensely satisfying to read!)
The second part is told after a break in the timeline, by Maurice's now wife, Edith. She is also a writer and the two of them are based in Norwich, where she has taken up teaching work at the University of East Anglia. This link was the icing on the cake for me. I work at the UEA and am linked closely to the faculty in question. It added an extra level of interest for me, to read references to an area I am so familiar with and a place that means so much to me.
Never have I met a protagonist as manipulative and cunning as Maurice. It's a bit of a theme in my reviews that I really have a thing for books with such unlikeable lead characters. It's all very well having someone that you can root for in a book, but my real love is reserved for the 'anti-hero.' A character that is just so completely insidious that you can't help but find yourself in awe of them. Maurice is one of the best fictional characters I've ever come across. To start with, he just comes across as narcissistic and ruthless but as the story unfolds you sit back in open mouthed horror and fascination as you realise he really will stop at nothing in his quest for fame, fortune and critical acclaim. He is clearly a sociopath, able to justify his many misdemeanors as a necessary evil for his art. So many reviews have likened him to 'the talented Mr. Ripley' and its a comparison that makes complete sense. They both have in common their charisma, willingness to exploit others, utter belief in their own lies and a seeming lack of regard for the repercussions of their actions on others. Maurice truly is a machiavellian character and one that I never tired of.
If this all sounds dark and depressing, then fear not! In true Boyne style this is peppered with darkly humourous moments. It's such book-review cliché to say that 'I couldn't put this book down' - but, well, I bloody couldn't! It is just so horrifically captivating, like watching a horror movie, where you know something awful is going to happen, but you just can't look away. The writing is brilliant, the tension builds surreptitiously until you heart is in your mouth and the characterisation is ingenious. Throw on top of that a skilfully crafted story and a satirical look at the literary industry and this is a book that certainly deserves all the acclaim it is getting.
Thanks to the Publisher and The UEA Literary festival organisers for this preview copy in return for an honest review.
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