The Sunshine Cruise Company by John Niven
Susan Frobisher and Julie Wickham live in a small Dorset town. Friends since school, they live fairly uneventful lives – Susan has a lovely house and a lengthy marriage to accountant Barry, whereas Julie is doing slightly less well – living in a council flat and working in an old people's home. When Barry is found dead trussed up in a sex dungeon, it transpires that he has been leading a hidden life for years, and his expensive fetishes lead to the bank moving to take Susan's home. Struck by both desperation and a sense of injustice, Sue and Julie conspire to rob a bank, taking along their friend Jill – a devout Christian conflicted due to lack of money and a terminally ill grandson, and Ethel – a foul mouthed resident of the nursing home longing for adventure.
| The Sunshine Cruise Company by John Niven | |
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| Category: Humour | |
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Reviewer: Luke Marlowe
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| Summary: A riotous farce that manages to be simultaneously hilariously rude and wonderfully heartwarming, The Sunshine Cruise Company is a celebration of living life to the full, an important lesson in not underestimating the older generation and a warning of the dangers of not truly knowing those closest to us… | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 368 | Date: August 2015 |
| Publisher: William Heinemann | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0434023189 | |
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John Niven has been a fairly well known author for the last 8 or so years, with his 2008 debut, Kill Your Friends, a huge success that is currently being turned into a film. A blazingly funny takedown of the music industry, there was an American Psycho style sense of danger and dread, combined with a constantly funny turn of phrase. Niven has been fairly prolific since then – producing another four novels. The only one of which I've read was The Second Coming – a novel which had Jesus return to earth and promptly take part in an X-Factor style competition in order to gain popularity. Hugely funny and wonderfully scathing about modern pop culture, I was expecting something equally edgy in The Sunshine Cruise Company.
The Sunshine Cruise Company however, is rather a different kettle of fish. Niven seems to have recalibrated his normal goals here – whilst there is a strong element of satire in the depiction of the police, and issues such as the housing bubble and the recession drive the plot along, the real emphasis here is on character. Susan, Julie, Jill, Vanessa – and especially Ethel, are both realistic and hugely likeable (especially Ethel. I find it difficult that anyone could read this and not fall completely in love with Ethel), and the reader roots for them from the get go. As such, the police are placed into the role of villains – but apart from bumbling and hugely unpleasant Boscombe, they still come across as likeable for the most part.
A hysterically funny book, Niven manages to cram set pieces and jokes into almost every chapter – but the book never feels over done or forced, and combines the humour with a tight, gripping plot. Character development too is not risked for the sake of humour, with intriguing developments for all, and characters whom I rooted so much for, I almost felt like punching the air when they had respective triumphant moments.
A Little England style Thelma and Louise, I rather hope someone will film The Sunshine Cruise Company too – give me Miriam Margolyes as Ethel, and I'll happily pay the entrance fee. A huge thanks to the publishers for this book, I've no doubt it'll do very well indeed.
For further reading, I'd recommend The Second Coming by John Niven. A scathing look at our current Talent show culture, The Second Coming is nevertheless both hysterically funny and surprisingly touching – and whilst the initial premise may seem somewhat offensive, the moral message of the book lessens the shock somewhat.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The Sunshine Cruise Company by John Niven at Amazon.com.
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