Goldengrove by Francine Prose

Goldengrove by Francine Prose
Buy Goldengrove by Francine Prose at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: General Fiction
Reviewer: Katie Pullen
Summary: #
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 288	Date: July 2010
Publisher: Atlantic Books
ISBN: 978-1848870369
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On a hot day Nico and her older sister Margaret take a boat out onto Mirror Lake, but only Nico returns after Margaret dives off the boat and doesn't resurface. Margaret's sudden death tears through Nico and her parents' lives, and each mourn for her in their own way. Unable to find the help she needs from her parents, who are both consumed by their own grief to help Nico to come to terms with her loss, Nico turns to the vast array of books in Goldengrove, her father's bookshop, for answers, and soon embarks on a dangerous relationship with Margaret's boyfriend Aaron, the only person who seems to understand her grief.

The story is told from the perspective of thirteen-year-old Nico, but by her much older self looking back to the tragic events of the summer her sister died. I initially thought that as an adult Nico may have lost touch with her thirteen-year-old self, but losing her sister has marked her so deeply that her recollections as a teenager are real and valid. Nico's calm and collected, almost matter of fact voice takes us through her summer of grief in a way that suggests she has to tell her story to finally come to terms with her loss as an adult.

Her pain is suffused through every page as she recounts her inability to cope without her sister, finding little comfort from her parents. Unable to come to terms with Margaret's death her father has become completely distracted by the book on eschatology he is writing and her mother has slowly become lost in a haze of painkillers. I felt enormous frustration for Nico as the people she needs are emotionally absent so she has no choice but to seek comfort in the books in Goldengrove, her father's bookshop, where her young imagination is sent into overdrive when in an attempt to feel close to her sister she convinces herself that she too has a heart condition.

Margaret's death does not stop her from becoming a central character in this novel and her unique persona is much in evidence. Described as a girl who was born too late she longed for anything from the 30s, 40s and 50s, was beautiful, exceptionally musical and named after the Margaret in Gerald Manley Hopkin's poem Spring and Fall from which the novel (and the bookshop) also gets its name. Margaret's obsession with old films and music pulls the novel back to a simpler almost romantic time and adds an air of nostalgia, which perhaps is fitting as our characters struggle to face their futures. She is also more present perhaps by her absence and what she has left behind, as Nico has to avoid many things that painfully remind her of her sister.

In contrast Nico is quite an ordinary girl, a thinker rather than a beauty, and she stands somewhat in Margaret's shadow even after her death, particularly as her parents forget her emotional needs. She continues to idolise Margaret and is desperate to remain close to her, so much so that wearing her perfume, clothes and embarking on a friendship with her boyfriend seems completely natural. As she negotiates her way through grief, Nico's body starts to change and her story also becomes one of coming of age as she loses not only her sister but also her childhood innocence.

It is a rare book that makes me slow down to savour every word of its beautiful language and throughout I found myself re-reading many sentences and paragraphs to fully enjoy Prose's wonderful descriptions, metaphors and similes and her ability to make the ordinary extraordinary in what is a delicate and elegiac novel.

Essentially this is a sad book, dealing with an issue all of us will face in life, yet it is exceptionally moving and deals sensitively with Nico's and her family's pain and grief, illustrating just how unique our relationship with death can be. It's a book for anyone wanting an exceptional read that will fill your mind with its wonderful images and simple yet thought provoking story.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to The Bookbag.

Further Reading Suggestion: If you like the sound of this book you might also enjoy the brilliant The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold or The Visible World by Mark Slouka.

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