The Golden Hour by William Nicholson

The Golden Hour by William Nicholson
Buy The Golden Hour by William Nicholson at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: General Fiction
Reviewer: Susmita Chatto
Summary: A novel about life, love, art, work, youth, middle age, old age - and what happens when you put it all together.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 533	Date: May 2012
Publisher: Quercus
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-1849163934
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Maggie is nervous about committing to a live-in relationship, terrified by the idea that there must be something better out there. Dean is terrified of losing the love of his life and old Mrs Dickinson is just, well, terrified. Henry is frustrated by rabbits in his garden, Alan is frustrated by work, and Liz is frustrated by old Mrs Dickinson, who is her mother...

Nicholson has assembled a carefully linked cast in a novel that manages to cover most of the life issues his readers will face at some point. Work, art, home improvements, the complexity of our relationships with our friends, partners, parents and children, and the way in which they all link together, are beautifully portrayed by a writer who is not afraid to examine the issues which make us most uncomfortable.

This novel takes the pedestrian and puts it under a microscope, finding all the fears and foibles that dominate our daily lives – and also all the turning points in our perspective that suddenly turn a rotten day into a happier one. There are certainly dark moments in this novel, and times where you have to take a breath and examine your own feelings about what you are reading. I found myself incredibly frustrated with some of the characters, while simultaneously being sympathetic to the sheer irrationality of their responses.

This applies particularly to the story of Mrs Dickinson and her interaction with her carer, which I suspect many readers will find the stand-out story of them all. Nicholson does not shrink from describing the difficulties of old age, both mental and physical. But he gives equal time and detail to showing how caring for someone going through that can be an appalling experience in itself, fraught with emotional and practical questions that have no easy answer.

Nicholson’s style of prose uses the technique of showing the characters through the eyes of the others and this often negates the need for details or explanation – a masterclass in 'show, don’t tell' that all budding writers will want to study carefully. He also uses the present tense and this certainly adds urgency and flow to the novel.

The novel is liberally peppered with surprising contemporary references that most readers will recognise; if you think you’ve never paid any attention to those little catalogues that fall out of newspapers and sell you items you never knew you wanted, reading this may prove that you’re more observant than you thought!. This is a clever trick as it brings home the mainly middle class environment in which the novel is set.

It’s also a talent to make the most ordinary of tasks seem so interesting. His examination of Laura’s worry about how to organise a dinner party for eight – or ten, the potential difference of two being critical and causing very high stress to her, actually reminded me slightly of me - before I reach the conclusion that it’s just food! I don’t think I’ll be the only reader who recognises those sorts of anxieties – though for others it may be more about keeping out the rabbits.

Sometimes it’s good to read a novel where the alien kidnaps everybody and takes them to a gigantic pink planet where the only food source is ice cream. This is not that novel. For me, novels anchored in domesticity run the risk of being dull. However, Nicholson’s eye for human behaviour and talent for storytelling make this novel gripping and thoroughly enjoyable.

If this book appeals then you might like to read All the Hopeful Lovers also by Nicholson

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