Lightweight, engaging an excellent diversion from the woes of a pandemic.
This is Ruth Jones debut novel. Fans of Gavin and Stacey, the sit com she co-writes with James Cordon will be drawn to this book. Her excellent writing credentials certainly factored in this months book choice. However, with the exception of Belinda, Callum's long suffering Welsh wife, there is little in the style or content of the novel to appeal to fans of her on screen creations. This book is not supposed to be a comedy, it examines serious issues such as infidelity, loyalty, forgiveness and family values.
Never Greener follows the lives of two married couples, spanning a seventeen year period. The story jumps between 1985 and 2002 and charts the erotic affair between Callum, a happily married teacher from Edinburgh and an aspiring young actress, Kate, seventeen years his junior. Already the plot has a major flaw, would a happily married man on the verge of becoming a father for the third time really embark on a rampant extra marital affair? Jones portrays Callum as an upstanding dependable man, deeply in love with his wife Belinda, seemingly happy and content. At no point are we offered an explanation for his utterly disgraceful behaviour. He seems prepared to risk everything and yet we never really know why, beyond the obvious. Adam tempted by Eve in the Garden of Eden. Surely an outdated portrayal of the male psyche and more importantly an outdated stereotype of woman as temptress, absolving the man of all blame. Although non of the main characters are particularly appealing we seem to be encouraged to see Kate as the pantomime villain, leading the poor married man astray, wrecking his life and destroying his family. The fact that Belinda and Kate have a face to face stand off for the man they both love with Kate losing the battle reinforces the narrative that Kate is an evil temptress using her youth and beauty to captivate another woman's husband, again absolving Callum of any responsibility. It could be argued that Kate is young and naive and taken advantage of by the older man who should have known better.
The story moves between 1985, the first affair and seventeen years later when a chance meeting between Callum and Kate reignites their passionate love affair. Again the hapless Callum seems to have learned nothing from his previous transgression, which almost wrecked his marriage. Jones' characters are well drawn and clearly defined, the reader does feel the raw pain inflicted on poor old Belinda, who having forgiven her cheating husband seventeen years ago must now face the hard truth that she has wasted her life on a man who didn't deserve her. Callum is a strange mix of a dependable loving family man, intelligent and caring but at the first temptation a cheating, self centred, cad. Is the reader supposed to feel sympathy for Callum because he did what any man in his position would do? A rather outdated unequal view of marriage. In contrast Kate's character was too one dimensional and an opportunity to explore the effect of having her first child adopted would have given depth to both Kate and the plot, the existence of a love child seemed to be glossed over.
This book provides an easy page turner that was surprisingly enjoyable. It succeeded in pulling the reader back to find out what happened next, even though on many occasions Jones' writing style made it obvious what was about to happen. Even though the characters were quite flawed they are strong enough to make the reader care. Maybe the result of a long lockdown, free of life's usual little dramas, we were all ready for some salacious tittle tattle, a gossip over the garden fence, and at that level 'Never Greener' was just the book!
As restrictions ease we were able to gather for a socially distanced glass of sparkling mineral water, enjoying the view and the discussions in a beautiful garden buffeted by the late June winds but thankfully no showers!
Maybe our next meeting will be in a pub beer garden where we will be discussing .....
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