Beautifully written, moving, sharp and tormenting story .
Disadvantages:
Slow in parts, not as comprehensive as an "auto - biography"
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
William Horwood has been a favourite author of mine for many years. His imagination is second to none in fantasy fiction in which he created classics such as the Duncton Chronicles and Skallagrig - one of my all time favourite books. When I discovered "The Boy With No Shoes" I was shocked to discover that this was the painful story of the author's childhood not ever having imagined that he could come from such a harsh physical, and particularly barren emotional background.
The story is told set in the fictional coastal town of "Stoning" in Kent during the post Second World War years. Although the book is a kind of biography and is his story from boyhood into adult life, the place settings and characters are all fictitious but clearly based on the important people in the author's life.
I would describe Horwood as a literary artist; the way in which he constructs language so that it translates into "images" is a skill that very few writers possess. The only other writer that I've encountered who stirs such an emotional reaction in me through the way they write prose is Sir Bob Geldof in his series of writings about his trips to Africa.
The memoir starts off with "Jimmy Rova" (Horwood) aged about six telling a particularly poignant story about being given a pair of shoes by "The Man Who Was"; someone in his distant memory that had cared about him and could be interpreted as his father. The shoes are described with tenderness and illustrate the child being extremely proud and devoted to this particular pair of shoes which are actually nothing more than a pair of plimsolls.
Ma is indifferent, belligerent and completely disinterested in her children and feels hard done by that the best years of her life are passing her by in child rearing without a man to support her. "The Man Who Was" disappears and is replaced by "The Man Who Wasn't" who was rarely present in the home and showed no interest or affection in the children either. She is described as a large woman with a "red raw hitting hand".
Jimmy Rova describes fears some of which are common to all children such as fear of the "coalman" in the cellar but he also describes acutely something he refers to as "darktime" that can only be construed as depression. He's also constantly bullied by his brother and his cousin and as result spends long periods of solitude by the sea where he learns about all things to do with nature, how to fish and the beauty and danger of the sea itself. He learns the name of all the wild coastal flowers and it is through these and the discovery of "tormentil" that he encounters the girl that will become his first love - Harriet.
A loving grandmother enters into Jimmy's life and he has someone he can talk to, who listens to what he has to say and teaches him to listen to others. As he grows up his friends are adults - the bait digger and his wife "Mr & Mrs Bubbles" (who are childless) and "Freddie Hammel", the lifeboat man.
Once considered somewhat "stupid" or slightly "backwards" it is Jimmy's granny, Mr Hammel and Mr Bubbles who teach him to belief in himself and get him to the stage where he makes it to grammar school. Once there, he encounters an incredibly awful teacher - Captain Flax, who makes it clear that he is expected to "fail". It is only at the start of O level years that a new English teacher starts and inspires the "Lower" boys and truly teaches them and makes it clear that he expects them to succeed. The boy does indeed succeed, culminating in 11 O levels and 3 A levels that take him on to University.
As this is an auto-biographical memoir the story itself has no real beginning, middle and end and is simply the journey of boy into man, told through a series of events that clearly affected Horwood deeply.
The stories are told with integrity, bravery and openness. Embarrassing moments are revealed such bedwetting episodes and the loss of his virginity. The final chapters culminate in the ending of one of the saddest tales you are ever likely to hear and the beauty and sensitivity of the narrative had tears streaming down my face! Without giving the story away, it's about the re-uniting of French twins separated in the war years.
The way this memoir is written is like a series of short stories spread over quite a long period of time that tell of particularly poignant memories in the author's mind. This book is poetic in its magnitude and I sincerely hope that William Horwood found it cathartic in its writing.
Having said that, however, I have to admit that reading it I wasn't "gripped" in the way that I am with many books but I don't think this detracts from the quality and content. Some parts of the story were hard going, uncomfortable even and it was only by closing the book, contemplating the content and reading between the lines that sometimes you understood the underlying message.
If you are a fan of Horwood I would strongly recommend that you read it. It makes me think that it was his long periods of solitude in his childhood that inspired such creativity in him and his writing.
Personally I find it fascinating that Horwood chose to write his life story in this way - i.e. in the third person. And I wonder if this is a deliberate attempt to maintain a safe emotional distance from memories that although they have shaped the man, are so evidently painful in there recollection.
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