Beware hemlock


Swimming Home Deborah Levy


AND OTHER STORIES, 176PP, £10 ■Tablet bookshop price £9


W Tel 01420 592974


hen philandering poet Joe Jacobs (“known to his readers as JHJ”) finds


himself thrown together with a fragile young botanist, Kitty Finch, an unsettling connection is established. Joe, holidaying on the French Riviera with his wife Isabel, 14-year-old daughter Nina and their two friends Mitchell and Laura, first encounters Kitty floating in the villa’s pool. Initially, they think she is dead but then she emerges naked from the water and turns all their lives upside down. After Kitty claims there has been a


mistake with the rental dates and that all the hotels are full, Isabel invites her to stay with them. It turns out that Kitty is actually a fan of Joe and has come to the villa with the express purpose of meeting him. She wants him to read her poem “Swimming Home”. Joe and Kitty share a poetic sensibility and a history of depression and it is this emotional bond that triggers a series of events and confrontations that are to end in tragedy. Deborah Levy’s narrative is tightly


structured, meticulously detailed and rich in metaphor and symbol. Pebbles with holes take on a dual meaning, while the hemlock Kitty collects – beautiful but deadly – comes to represent herself. Each character is integral to the plot: even the German hippy caretaker Jurgen and the elderly neighbour Madeleine Sheridan, who watches them all from her balcony, have their parts to play. Levy reveals her characters’ states of mind through casual observations, a glance, a blush or a nervous tic. For Joe, Kitty is “an explorer, an adventurer, a nightmare”, while the distrustful Laura describes her as “a window waiting to be climbed through. A window that she guessed was a little broken anyway”. Just as often, a character’s sensibility is revealed through musings on what they don’t know.


Despite their long marriage, Joe has to ask his wife if she likes honey: “He would poke his paw inside every hollow of every tree to scoop up the honeycomb and lay it at her feet if he thought she might stay a little longer with him and their cub.” Kitty may be the catalyst but Nina and her rites of passage are also central to the novel. As she grapples her way through the fog of deception and desire created by the adults, Nina undergoes a profound experience that is to mark her for life. Dark, sometimes humorous, intriguing


and tragic, Levy’s tale held me captive from its dramatic beginning to its sorrowful conclusion. Lucy Popescu


STREAMS OF CONTENTMENT


Lessons I Learned on My Uncle’s Farm ROBERT J WICKS


Through 15 poignant, sometimes humorous, and always instructive lessons, Wicks demonstrates how contentment is found through simplicity, gratitude and compassion. Includes 30 brief reflections and simple practices to help you discover contentment.


Ave Maria Press • 978 1 93349 527 9 • 224pp • HB • £16.99


SACRED SPACE FOR ADVENT AND THE CHRISTMAS SEASON 2011 – 2012


THE IRISH JESUITS


A daily Advent resource, drawn from the popular Jesuit website www.sacredspace.ie. Discover the richness of the distinctive prayer method developed by St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, that has made Sacred Space so beloved around the world.


Ave Maria Press • 978 1 59471 278 4 • 96pp • PB • £2.50


INFINITY DWINDLED TO INFANCY


A Catholic and Evangelical Christology EDWARD T OAKES, SJ


Surveys Christian teaching on the person and nature of Christ and looks at many doctrinal and historical issues essential to the study of Christology. Draws on recent scholarship, key medieval theologians, major Protestant voices, contemporary Catholic theologians and magisterial statements from Vatican II.


Eerdmans • 978 0 8028 6555 7 • 480pp • PB • £29.99


BEING HOLY IN THE WORLD


Theology and Culture in the Thought of David L Schindler


EDITED BY NICHOLAS J HEALY JR AND D C SCHINDLER


Focuses on the work of David L Schindler, an important member in the Communio movement in Catholic theology. Provides the first book-length study of Schindler’s thought, which explores his Trinitarian theology, ecclesiology, anthropology and metaphysics.


Eerdmans • 978 0 8028 6554 0 • 352pp • PB • £22.99


ALBAN BOOKS SAINTS


Lives and Illuminations RUTH SANDERSON


Presents over 70 saints from well- known saints like Patrick and Francis of Assisi to lesser know saints such as Saint Bernardino. Each saint is presented through a beautiful detailed portrait page paired with a brief biographical sketch which includes dates, feast days and patronage information. A beautiful gift for readers of all ages.


Eerdmans • 978 0 8028 5402 5 • 80pp • PB • £8.99


THE UNSHELTERED HEART


An At-Home Advent Retreat, Cycle B RONALD PATRICK RAAB


An at-home retreat which provides a simple four-step process for each day of Advent. Includes gospel readings, personal reflections, prayers, commentaries, writing prompts and spaces to make notes each day. Based on the Sunday gospel readings for Advent 2011 (Cycle B).


Ave Maria Press • 978 1 59471 284 5 • 96pp • PB • £5.99


THE CHALLENGE AND SPIRITUALITY OF CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING


MARVIN L KRIER MICH


Explores Catholic social teaching, with a focus on its spirituality and the challenges that it poses to Christians today. Chapters include: Valuing all creation of which we are a part, Human dignity: How it is intrinsic to all and The need for community: What it does for us. New revised edition.


Orbis Books • 978 1 57075 945 1 • 224pp • PB • £14.99


A DIFFERENT KIND OF CELL


The Story of a Murderer Who Became a Monk W PAUL JONES


Tells the story of Clayton Fountain, who was sentenced to several life sentences for five violent murders (four of them committed while behind bars). Condemned to live out his days in solitary confinement, Fountain undertook a profound spiritual journey that led to a genuine religious conversion and his decision to become a hermit and a brother in the Trappist Order.


Eerdmans • 978 0 8028 6651 6 • 144pp • PB • £8.99


Available from your local bookshop or in case of difficulty from: Alban Books Ltd, 14 Belford Road, Edinburgh EH4 3BL, UK www.albanbooks.com Tel: +44(0)131 226 2217 Fax: +44(0)131 225 5999 Email: sales@albanbooks.com


12 November 2011 | THE TABLET | 25


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