Tamara Drewe is the second graphic novel by Posy Simmonds (the first being Gemma Bovary, which did not appeal to me so I haven't read). The new book is reviewed by Mick Imlah in the TLS (see link at start of post) with the rather grammatically puzzling standfirst: "The modern Hardyesque of Posy Simmonds' brilliant plot management and visual invention."
According to the review, the book is about a retreat for writers "run by Beth Hardiman (there is plenty of gentle wordplay), a good, busy, unglamorous woman of fifty, who is also required to manage the life of her husband Nicholas, creator of the lucrative series of “Doctor Inchcombe” detective novels. (Nicholas “likes to show off to women”, and as the book opens he is guiding his wife through the ruins of his latest affair in publishing, with Nadia from foreign rights – “I won’t lie. She was important to me”.)" One of the authors is Tamara Drewe, based on Bathsheba Everdene from Far from the Madding Crowd, my favourite Hardy novel. The review continues:
"If there was a time when what Posy Simmonds seemed to offer was an “entertaining satire on the middle classes”, that limitation no longer applies. There is nothing in Hardy, you might say, which more grimly conveys the paralysis of lesser rural life than her pictures of Casey and Jody at the old bus shelter. Andy Cobb laments that Ewedown now has “no shop, no bus, no post office”, but it is the teenage population who have to act out the consequences: “We were going to get a lift into Hadditon with Jody’s mum, but decide not to – we’re skint, it’s freezing, and getting back means staying there bloody hours till her mum finishes her shift at Tesco”. "
Detective novels and a modern Bathsheba Everdene -- this one is definitely going on my Christmas list. Here's the Amazon (UK) link -- £10.19, compared with a list price in the TLS review of £16.99.
Recent Comments