The Only Story by Julian Barnes

I blow hot and cold with novels by Julian Barnes. I just loved 'Arthur & George', but was left dulled by 'The Sense of an Ending' and 'The Noise of Time'. But I wanted to give him another chance (aren't I kind!), so tried this one. I loved it - well, most of it. The book is split into 3 parts, and I think Part 3 could have been edited much more thoroughly. There was much repetition, and I was a little bored, but not enough to put me off the book.

The story is set in the 1960s in Surrey. Paul Casey is a 19 year-old student who is told by his parents to join the local tennis club. There he meets Susan Macleod, 48, married, mother of 2 children the same age as Paul. They fall madly in love and start an affair. Part one of the book is narrated by Paul as an older man, looking back at the start of the affair, and describing their feelings, and the reactions of those around them. Part two recounts their running away and starting a new life together, but the slow breakdown of their relationship as Susan becomes depressed, turns to alcohol, and starts to lose her mind. Part three is set in the present day with Paul describing his feelings now, and whether he feels guilt about what happened to Susan.

It's such an emotional read. It shows that love can jump out at anyone at anytime, and how strongly it can affect us. But also when it goes wrong, it affects us just as strongly - we can be scarred for life. There is so much of life that Paul/Julian is commenting on, you start to question whether he is right. What is the meaning of love? There is one thing for sure though - your first love stays with you for the rest of your life.

Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

This book is currently on the shortlist for the Man Booker Prize 2016. In our shop we seem to be selling more of this and also 'His Bloody Project' by Graeme Macrae Burnet, than any of the other books on the shortlist. But the feelings of the public don't always match those of the Booker judges!

So what did I think about Eileen. Well there's a quote on the front cover from The Times describing it as 'A taught psychological thriller, rippled with comedy as black as a raven's wing'. That would definitely make me buy it immediately, but I would've been disappointed in the end. I think that makes it sound more of a thriller than it actually is. It's quite a short book, and about two thirds of it describes Eileen's character, home life and work life. It's only the last third where the story builds, once she meets her co-conspirator Rebecca. But even then, I was expecting something more.

The whole story - the characters and the setting - is quite depressing. The main story is set in 1964 when Eileen is 24, but it is narrated by Eileen 50 years on. It is set in a small town in Masachusetts, it is 5 days before Christmas, it's cold and it's constantly snowing. Eileen has not had a happy upbringing, and she continues to be unhappy. She was never loved by her parents, she was maltreated and poked fun of by them. Once when she was little and she hadn't tidied her room, her mother pushed her down the basement stairs and locked her in there in the dark as punishment. Her mother has since died of cancer, and her father turned to drink. He continues to be verbally abusive towards her, even though she is his main carer. They live in filth, the house doesn't get cleaned, and Eileen herself has no personal hygiene. She barely eats, (she lives on peanuts, bread and milk) but takes laxatives daily as she feels she is big and bloated. She is fed up with her existence but doesn't want to die. A common occurrence in the book is the mention of the icicles hanging precariously over her porch, and how they could easily fall and pierce through her or her father at any time. She dreams of running away to New York.

Eileen works as a secretary in a correctional facility for teenage boys. She doesn't like anybody at work, and they don't seem to like her - in fact, most of the staff don't seem to notice her existence. She fantasises about Randy, one of the guards, and most evenings she drives to his house and sits outside in the car and imagines what he'd be doing inside. Her sad and lonely existence changes with the sudden appearance of Rebecca at the facility. Rebecca seems to understand Eileen, she talks to her and appears to want to be her friend, but Eileen finds herself drawn into something a lot more sinister.

The character descriptions are excellent, the author does a great job of creating a sombre setting for Eileen (well, she couldn't make it any more depressing really!), but the finale wasn't as big I was expecting. I find that how you feel at the end of a book sums up your feeling about the whole book - so, disappointed really.