None of the Smarts realise she’s not an invited guest, until it’s too late. A spirit-purifier, absorbing negative or stagnant energies, stimulating the body to heal itself.Īmber has a cuckoo’s knack of diverting attention. Something incredibly, unimaginably ancient. Because what is Amber? A cautionary colour – that liminal space between green and red, between normality and impending danger. Smith’s name-choice is interesting in itself. Ali, you’ll win the Booker prize some year!īut let’s get back to Amber. Hotel World (2001), was shortlisted for the Man Booker How to be Both(2014), also shortlisted for the Man Booker, won the Costa Novel Award – I reviewed it in an earlier blog post The Accidental (2005), again shortlisted for the Man Booker, won the Whitbread Novel of the Year (the predecessor of the Costa Novel Award). This is the third novel I’ve read by Ali Smith. (If ever there was a family whose name did not match their emotional intelligence…) She swoops uninvited into the holiday home and lives of the Smart family.
Turns out that Amber, the main character in Ali Smith’s The Accidental, is something of a cuckoo herself. But the cuckoo? Seriously? It takes over other birds’ nests and kills their chicks: it’s a compulsive parasite. When you think about it, isn’t it strange that a love song should eulogise a cuckoo? A lark, a dove, I understand…songbird, symbol of peace. But first of all please, let there be love.” “Let there be cuckoos, a lark and a dove.
Unsurprisingly his old records reflect the music he most liked to sing: Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole. He had a lovely singing voice in his day and for many years was a compere and singer at his local parish club.
I’ve spent some time recently sorting through his old 78” records. My Uncle Bobbie died just over a year ago.
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