The Week 22Feb2020

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22 February 2020 THE WEEK

ARTS

“Brevity”,writestherecentlydeparted
SpeakerJohnBercowinhisnew
memoir,“isnotmystrongsuit.”You
cansaythatagain,saidCraigBrown
inTheMailonSunday.Thisautobio-
graphyshouldreallyhavebeencalled
Unstoppable,“asitgoesonandonandon,surfingthewavesof
itsownlong-windedness”.Bercowneverusesoneadjectivewhen
three areavailable:KenClarkeis“authoritative,passionateand
humorous”;Bercow’swife,Sally,is“stimulating,cleverand
hugelyattractive”.Whenassessinghisownlife,hedwellsonevery
achievement,howevermodest:atprimaryschool,hewas“Highly
Commended”fortapdancing;heoncebeatBorisJohnson6-0,
6-0, 6 -0attennis.Hekeepsremindingus“whatawonderfully
fairSpeakerhe was”,and quoteshis“pompousput-downs” as
if they werepoetry.“Egotismbursts outfromeverypage.”
Rather surprisingly,given hisRemainer sympathies,Bercow
“beganhis politicalcareerontheracist fringes of theTory Right”,
saidDominic LawsoninTheSunday Times.Inhis late teens,this
sonofaJewishtaxidriver joinedthe PowelliteMonday Club,

whichwantedCommonwealth

immigrantsto“gobackwherethey

camefrom”.Hisshamefulflirtation

with“macho,control-orientated

politics”wasaresponse,hesuggests,

tohisphysicalinadequacies–notjust

hissmallstature,butalsotheacne

whichearnedhimtheteenagenickname

“CraterFace”.Afterentering

Parliamentin 1997 ,Bercowdrifted

totheToryLeft,saidStephenBush

intheNewStatesman.AsSpeaker,

hepursuedamodernisingagenda,

boostingthepowerofbackbenchers

andestablishinganurserywhereMPs

coulddropofftheirchildren.Whatashamethatthis“legacy”

isnowlargelyforgotten,overshadowedbyhiscontentiousrole

inBrexitandtheaccusationsofbullyinglevelledagainsthim.

AnyonewhohasseenBercow“bloviatingfromtheSpeaker’s

Chair”willrecognisethevoiceofthisbook,saidAndrew

RawnsleyinTheObserver:verbose,repetitive,often“mottled

withrage”.Unspeakableis“memoirasboththerapyand

revenge”:anattempttogethisownbackonallthosewhohave

crossedhim,and awaytoshowthe worldjusthowfar“Crater

Face”has risen.Ifeltso ashamedreadingthisbookinpublicthat

Ihadtohide thecover,saidQuentinLettsin TheTimes.“Butit

doeshaveavalue.Asanexampleof auto-hagiography,of

extended hypocrisy,ofunwittinganddamagingself-revela tion,

it isbothunspeakableandunbeatable.”

Unspeakable

by John Bercow

W&N 464pp £20

The Week bookshop£15.99

Review of reviews: Books

Bookoftheweek

“Fewhave knownpoverty like Hashi
Mohamed,orovercomeit sodramatically,”
saidTanjilRashidin TheTimes. Aftercoming
to Londonasaparentless nine-year-old(his
father havingdiedin atraffic accident, his
mother left behindineastAfrica),hewas
“raised onbenefitsbyimmigrantSomali
relatives”. Theschoolheattendedwasso brutal
thatheonce“sawhis headmasterpummelled
byaparent intheplayground”.Buthewenton
to attendOxfordandnow,at 36,is abarrister,
write rand broadcaster.Int his“fine” memoir,
he relatesthis“rags-to-riches” tale,andasks
“what it takes tomakeit in modern Britain”.
Arefreshing aspect ofPeople Like Usis its
“willingness to address controversial issueswith
candour”, saidMercyMuroki in The Sunday
Times.Mohamedpraises middle-class parenting
–encouragingconversation, demanding high
standards–for preparing children for the
“pressuresof adulthood”. By contrast,he says,
inner-city blackkids must learntoadapt their
language,or“code switch”, ifthey wanttobe
sociallymobile. Forallthat,reade rs mayfeel
unsure howtoacquire the elusive “it” that,he
admits, successful people have.Ashis own
unus ualcaree rpath suggests,there is“really
no singleway”tomakeitinmodernBritain.

People Like Us

by Hashi Mohamed

Profile 320pp £16.99

The Week bookshop£14.99

Novel of the week

Actress

by Anne Enright

Jonathan Cape 272pp £16.99

The Week bookshop£14.99

AnneEnri ght’snewnovel is afictionalisedversion

of that Hollywoodstaple,“thebiography ofastar

written fromthe perspective of someonewhogrew

up in theirshad ow”, said RobertDouglas-

Fairh urstinThe Times.Itchartsthelife of

KatherineO’Dell,a“flame-haired” Irishfilm star

who briefly enjoysfamebefore years of “unhappy

alco holicdecline”. Her “unsparing”biog rapher is her novelistdaughter,Norah,

who points out that virtuallyeverything about hermotherwas fake, “fromher

dyed redhair to herput-o nIrishaccent”.Atthe same time,she “discovers

uncomfortable parallels with herownlife”,not least their“appalling treatment”

at th ehands of m en.Though unsettling,Actressis an absorbingworkinwhich

ordinarylife is transformedinto “somethingbeautiful and strange”. The bookis

“bynomeans lightreading”, said KateKellaway in The Observer.Butits

“desolations” are always offsetby “diverting writing,garnished with hope”,and

anemotional intelligence that“knowsnobounds”.

On the contrary,for anovelistas“exceptionally gifted” as Enright,thisfeels

like a“plodding” effort, said LeoRobsonin theNew Statesman. Longstretches

are writtenin“straightbiographese”, and Katherine’s story hasan “off-t he- peg”

feel: ratherthanbeingafully fleshed-out character,she e merges assomeonewho

merely“did alot of actressy-y things”.Icouldn’tdisagreemore, sa id Ruth Scurr

in TheSpectator:thisisa“perfect jewel of anovel,adarkemera ld setinthe Irish

laureate’s fictionaltiara, alongside her ManBooker Prize-winnerTheGathering”.

Complex and multifaceted,butalways lucid,it’sa“deeplyhumane, oftendarkly

funny novel aboutthe exercise of poweroversexua llyattr acti ve women”.

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