S MAGAZINE ★ 26 MAY 2019 53
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Mending broken hearts
Mark Haddon, best known for
his modern classic The Curious
Incident Of The Dog In The
Night-Time, has now had a more
sensible idea: seeing whether
one of Shakespeare’s least
successful and likeable plays
might work better as a novel.
The play is Pericles, Prince of
Tyre, which features a king called
Antiochus having an incestuous
relationship with his daughter.
One of her suitors, Pericles,
discovers this dark secret and is
pursued by an assassin tasked
with silencing him.
The Shakespeare version has
little of the psychological depth
we expect from the Bard and
none of his masterly plotting. This
is probably because much of
Pericles was originally the work of a hack writer
called George Wilkins and Shakespeare seems
to have been brought in as a script doctor. So
there is room for improvement and Haddon
seizes the opportunity with infectious gusto.
But his novel has a strange structure. Much
of it closely follows the play so we’re treated
to plenty of (very violent) swashbuckling as
Pericles falls into adventure after adventure.
This runs in parallel with a story set in the
present day, a modern retelling of what
happened to the incestuous King Antiochus
and his daughter. But in this case, the creepy
father is a billionaire businessman (presumably
because this is a story about abuse of power
and billionaires have more power than kings
these days).
There is also another storyline set in the
early 17th century that sees Shakespeare’s
collaborator George Wilkins, who seems to
have been a terrible abuser of women in real
life, getting a vividly described comeuppance.
In some ways the book is a fantasy act of
revenge on all men who maltreated women
throughout history.
So Haddon gives Pericles a feminist twist but
his novel isn’t quite as subtle or profound as
Madeline Miller’s recent novel Circe which did
something similar with The Odyssey. It is best
approached as a ragbag of ingenious ideas,
some of which work better than others.
But it does achieve the truly Shakespearean
feat of simultaneously conveying disgust at the
darkest aspects of human behaviour, and
relishing them, making the reader feel horribly- and deliciously – complicit.
Jake Kerridge
BOOKS
To buy these books, see Bookshop on page 77Harrowing yet uplifting new page-turners,
reviewed by Andreina Cordani
If You Could Go Anywhere
by Paige Toon
(Simon & Schuster, £7.99)
All her life Angie has lived
in a small Australian mining
community, dreaming of travelling
the world. Then in the wake
of her grandmother’s death, she
discovers the identity of the father
she’s never known. He runs
a restaurant in Rome so she
travels to the city and there
she meets mysterious, troubled
waiter Alessandro. You can
always rely on Paige Toon to
create crackling sexual tension
and a lustworthy hero whose
heartbreaking history keeps the
lovers apart. Throw in the Italian
dolce vita atmosphere and you
have a riveting summer read.Those Who Are Loved
by Victoria Hislop
(Headline Review, £20)
Anyone who reads Victoria Hislop’s
novels falls in love with Greece- and not just the beaches and
ancient sites but with the people
and their recent history. In this
family saga she delves into the
country’s troubled 20th century.
Themis just wants to study and
play but extremist politics and war
are tearing her country and her
family apart. All too soon she finds
herself holding a gun, forced to
stand up for what she believes in
and going to great lengths for the
sake of love. A moving read that
sweeps you through time.
Her Husband’s Mistake
by Sheila O’Flanagan
(Headline Review, £18.99)
Roxy knows she’s married a good
man. Dave is loving, reliable and
he makes her laugh... but then
he had a one-night stand with
their attractive neighbour. He
begs forgiveness and if Roxy
wants to keep their family intact,
she needs to swallow the hurt
and return to her role as wife and
mother. But is that possible?
O’Flanagan weaves an inspiring
tale of strength, love and self-
discovery from Roxy’s dilemma.
It’s a novel that will resonate
with many women, and you’ll be
cheering Roxy on throughout.The Beekeeper Of Aleppo
by Christy Lefteri
(Zaffre, £12.99)
Beekeeper Nuri and his artist
wife Afra have beaten the odds.
They have made the treacherous
journey from war-torn Syria to
Britain and now are seeking
asylum. But the journey has
taken its toll. They may be alive
but they are broken and drifting
apart from each other, as
vulnerable as the injured bee
Nuri finds in their hostel garden.
Christy Lefteri shows the refugee
crisis through the eyes of the
men, women and children who
struggle to reach our shores. And
yes, parts of this book will break
your heart but amid the hardship,
there’s laughter, love and hope.Special offer for S Magazine readers
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