Unexploded by Alison Macleod
Britain in war-time. Scenarios suggested by such a simple line are plenty, and there are many hundreds – if not thousands – of novels that portray such lives. Alison Macleod has stepped into this crowded marketplace with a novel of quiet beauty. Unexploded, her fourth novel, introduces us to the Beaumont family – Geoffrey, Evelyn and their eight year old son Philip. It is 1940, and war is threatening to spill onto British breaches. In Brighton, the tension is palpable. Geoffrey, a bank manager, has been appointed in charge of an internment camp close to the holiday resort. Evelyn, becoming disillusioned with marriage, is looking for something to fill her days. Philip, meanwhile, is imagining the day Hitler strolls down the promenade. Into these lives appears a disruptive element: Otto Gottlieb, a ‘degenerate’ German-Jewish painter, and resident of the internment camp. Reading Unexploded I felt reminded of Grah...