Owen Sheers - I Saw a Man

Ein gefährlicher Einsatz, ein Versehen, eine ganze Reihe von Opfern. Die Journalistin Caroline stirbt bei einem Auslandsdreh in Afghanistan durch eine amerikanische Rakete. Ihr Mann Michael kann den Verlust kaum ertragen, schon gar nicht im gemeinsamen Haus in Wales. In London hofft er sich ablenken und weiter an seinem aktuellen Buch arbeiten zu können. Seine neuen Nachbarn, Josh und Samantha mit den Töchtern Rachel und Lucy, schließen schnell mit ihm Freundschaft und kümmern sich um ihn in seiner Phase des Trauerns. Er wird zum fünften Familienmitglied und bewegt sich frei in ihrem Haus. Eines Nachmittags will er nur schnell einen Schraubenzieher abholen, den er Josh geliehen hatte. Seltsamerweise steht die Hintertür offen. Ein ungutes Gefühl zieht Michael in das Obergeschoss des scheinbar leeren Hauses. Ein Geräusch lässt ihn erst erschrecken und löst dann eine unheilvolle Kette von Ereignissen aus. Auf der anderen Seite des Atlantiks hadert ebenfalls ein Mann mit dem Schicksal und am Ende stehen gleich drei Männer vor der Frage, wie sie mit der Schuld, die sie auf sich geladen haben, leben sollen.

Owen Sheers schafft es, den Leser zu fesseln und wirft ihn immer wieder neue Spuren und unerwartete Wendungen hin, die den Roman unzählige Male in eine völlig andere Richtung lenken. Seine Rahmenhandlung wird durch die Ereignisse des einen, unheilvollen Nachmittags im Juni bestimmt. In Zeitlupe bewegt sich Michael im Haus seiner Nachbarn, jeder Schritt wird unterbrochen von Erinnerungen an Caroline und die Erinnerungen eines anderen Mannes. Wenige Andeutungen lassen ahnen, was passieren wird, um dann die Katastrophe ein weiteres Mal zu verzögern. Auch der Ton wandelt sich, je nachdem wo wir uns befinden: im Haus herrscht äußerste Anspannung und die Nerven sind bis zum Zerreißen gespannt – dann wiederum sind wir mit Michael in der Trauer um seine Frau oder bei dem amerikanischen Soldaten und seinen Erinnerungen an den schlimmsten Tag seines Lebens. Hier wird der Ton ruhig und melancholisch nur um dann wieder an den neuen Tatort zurückzukehren. Das eigentliche Ereignis, auf das die Geschichte lange Zeit hinsteuert, ist dann doch ganz anders als erwartet und hat vor allem ungeahnte Folgen für die Zeit danach – hier kann Sheers sich wirklich von der Masse der Krimis absetzen. Mehr zu schreiben würde potenziellen Lesern nun den Spaß verderben, bleiben wir dabei: eine wirklich gute Idee auch hervorragend umgesetzt. Einzig das Ende fand ich einerseits recht knapp und zum anderen für das, was ihm vorher gelungen war, etwas zu dünn.

Als Roman kategorisiert kann der Text jedoch mit erstaunlich viel Spannung punkten und darüber hinaus auch ganz wichtige Fragen nach Schuld und Verantwortung aufreißen. Vieles kam für mich unerwartet – wirklich ein Buch, das in vielerlei Hinsicht überraschen kann. 

Ian McEwan - Nutshell

Trudy is pregnant, but currently not living with the child’s father, John, but his uncle, Claude. The house they live in was one Trudy and John’s retreat and now worth millions since housing in London is expensive. Claude is into real estate and comes up with a plan: why not get rid of the unwanted father of the child and make money of the house? A plan is made, but John interferes when he suddenly shows up and asks Trudy to leave the house where he wants to create a new home for himself and his girlfriend Elodie. Quick action is needed and thus Trudy and Claude have to react fast. Just a couple of hours later, they seem to have reached their aim and nobody is there who could blame them. But what they don’t know is that somebody has been listening all the time…

Respect. Ian McEwan really succeeded in surprising me. One of my favourite authors of whom I have read many novels accomplished something I thought risky and did not expect much from: telling a story from an unborn baby’s point of view. But what do we get: a lot of fun with a narrator who is not only a lot cleverer than all the adults presented, but also a close observer and ironic commentator of what he hears and understands. In this special case, getting the story just form one perspective is a great plus since the baby is just hilarious. At points, however, the laughter gets stuck in your throat when, for example, the baby is longing for another glass of wine – something it is highly used to. In this way, McEwan does what we expect him to do: he knows exactly how to put the words so that there is a double meaning and the underlying message can hit you hard.

What I liked best about the novel were first of all the baby’s way of narrating what’s happening. A slightly naïve tone which nevertheless shows a lot on knowledge and understanding. Second, the presentation of the characters who are mainly characterized through their action and even though they are not really the sympathetic type of person and only seen through the baby’s eyes, the develop facets and become more and more complex in their feelings.

All in all, a quick read which connects a lively and lovable narrator with a murder plot.  

Elizabeth Bowen - The Heat of the Day

1942, the war is raging in London, but Stella Rodney did not flee the city like so many others. Her son is a solder and she is in constant fear of losing him. She finds some hours of relief with Robert, her lover. When a man, Harrison, approaches her, she does not really know what to think of him. When he tells her that her lover is a double-agent handing over secrets to the enemy, her world crumbles. Harrison warns her not to tell him that he has been uncovered since this would have serious consequences. Stella does not know whom to trust anymore – just like her son who uncovered the truth about his father.

Even though the novel is labelled as a thriller of suspense, I did not really perceive it as that. Of course, we do find agents and double-agents and the bombing of London is in full course, but for me this was much more a novel about a woman in a complicated situation and the question of whom to trust, what to reveal about yourself and family secrets. I appreciated Elizabeth Bowens unagitated tone which made the novel run smoothly gave you some feeling of security before the big secrets were revealed. It is obvious that she is a master of making use of ambiguous language and of close observance – she knows that everybody has secretes and she is interested in opening Pandora’s box and letting them free.

B.A. Paris - Behind Closed Doors

He has the perfect look, the perfect manners, he is absolutely charming and he even likes her sister Millie who suffers from the Down syndrome. Grace cannot believe her luck when Jack Angel proposes, she must be in a dream. There is just one favour he asks of her: she should give up her job at Harrod’s which is needs a lot of travelling. Grace reluctantly agrees, but since she expects to have children and then be a stay-at-home-mum for some time, this does not seem to be too bad. Everything is perfect – but it is all just a façade. The ink on their wedding certificate has not yet dried when Grace realizes that she might have made the biggest mistake of her life. However, she does not know that hell on earth is waiting for her.

The novel slowly reveals more and more of Jack’s atrocities before you can see the full extent of his evil character. You know that this cannot go on forever, the suspense slowly rises. First, you only feel pity for Grace, then you want to find out how she could end up in this situation and finally, you tremble and pray for her to find a way out. All this is really thrilling and sometimes the nerves are really on the edge while reading.

B.A. Paris’ novel plays with the greatest fears you can imagine: being held prisoner and abused and having people around who only see the outside and cannot look under the surface. Feeling and actually being completely helpless while not only your own life but also the one of your beloved is at risk, must be one of the most awful nightmares imaginable. At the same time, everybody envies you for your perfect life which is everything but not what what it seems to be. Albeit it is just a novel, it makes you think about what you really know about your friends and acquaintances and if all those perfect lives that you see from the outside, are really the same behind closed doors.