Lost Luggage by Jordi Punti

Lost Luggage by Jordi Punti
Buy Lost Luggage by Jordi Punti at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Literary Fiction
Reviewer: Zoe Page
Summary: An intriguing book of family secrets: this requires some dedication but the outcome is worth it.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 480	Date: May 2014
Publisher: Short Books Ltd
ISBN: 978-1780722139
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There are lots of things you wonder when you grow up with just one parent, but whether you also have a bunch of half-siblings, all with the same name as you, all dotted around the continent, is not normally high on the list. Gabriel Delacruz has 4 boys by 4 different women in 4 parts of Europe. None of them know of the others’ existence but when Gabriel disappears, his incredulous life is uncovered and Christof, Christophe, Christopher and Cristofol meet.

This is as much Gabriel’s story as it is that of his sons, and though he is largely absent, we learn a great deal about his former life, from his disrupted childhood to his early career. Some of the anecdotes are funny, such as his and Bundo’s innovative approach to satisfying their erotic desires, while some are more sentimental. It’s clear he didn't have the easiest start in life and you almost feel he deserved some of the liberties he took (along with the boxes).

I have former beaus dotted around the world but with no kids involved, I rarely give it a second thought. That someone could start afresh in new cities, new countries, and almost recreate his life from scratch each time, is somewhat harder to fathom when it’s a family, not just a relationship, that’s breaking down. This is not the Jeremy Kyle style story it could have been set up to be. It is the story of a family man, however unconventional, and the style is quite formal though it’s unclear if anything was lost in translation from the original.

The Christopers haven’t chosen the situation they find themselves in. They had all, to a greater or lesser extent, moved on from the man they once called papa, but now he's back in the forefront of their minds, old wounds are easing open, and the question on all their minds is, is he worth it? Is he worth the pain the memories bring, the destruction that comes from knowing that when he wasn't being your father, he was busy being someone else's? How can The Christophers get past the fact that, at one point or another, he was choosing one of them over the others to be the object of his affection and attention.

This is the most interesting of books. I didn't find it the easiest to read, as it's long, dense and literary, a combination I don't find myself lost in all that often. It gives masses of food for thought, but it also took up a lot of my time, and it wasn’t a light or easy read. That said, it was fascinating. The setting of Europe in the 60s was brilliant, and I loved the variation between the countries, feeling like I got 4 stories for the price of one.

Thanks go to the publishers for supplying this book.

Probably the only read I know that could challenge this in terms of international coverage is Every Day, Every Hour by Natasa Dragnic

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