Friday Five: Books Read in May

1. Kehua! by Fay Weldon - "Novels can no longer sit on shelves and pretend to be reality; they are not, they are inventions, suspensions of reality, and must declare themselves as such." Fay Weldon's post-modern novel has layers of overlapping stories and lashings of authorial intrusion as she addresses the theory that we are all haunted by ancestral echoes and that we ourselves are the ghosts of the future. The eponymous kehua are Māori spirits who follow their kin across the world to bring them home where they belong. Which is why they end up in a basement in London while a great Greek tragedy plays out in Highgate. Peopled with a host of unlikeable characters and sweeping family dynamics, it's dramatic and clever and archly self-referential.  
2. Duende: A Journey in Search of Flamenco by Jason Webster - Flamenco is more than just a dance; it's a spirit, a passion and a way of life. Jason Webster tries to seek it out in this travel memoir through Alicante, Madrid and Granada. The blood-pumping adventures he undertakes en route teach him something about the duality of being in simultaneous ecstasy and despair, as he realises that flamenco means something different to everyone. From gun-toting gangsters, faithless lovers, sadistic guitar teachers and coked-up car thieves, he encounters many versions of the art, while trying to find his authentic self. It's certainly got flair.
3. Homage to Barcelona by Colm Tóibín - A companion to George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, Tóibín writes with insight and rich detail about the history and appeal of Barcelona. It was a pleasure to read while actually in the city and to recognise the landmarks and the peccadilloes of the people, as he darts down twisted alleyways of linguistics, art and politics, leaving the reader breathlessly struggling to keep up. Although originally published in 1990 (when he hoped the Barcelona Olympics wouldn't have a detrimental effect on the city), it maintains contemporary relevance. As a cautionary note, it must be mentioned that it borders on the academic and is a series of serious essays that should be approached as an educational study rather than as an armchair travel book. 

4. How to Kill Your Family by Bella Mackie - In my defence, I wasn't reading it as an instruction manual! This is fun, sharp and darkly comic, apparently inspired by the Ealing comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets, which I've never seen. The antihero seeks revenge on her family after she learns her father wanted nothing to do with her or her mother after he knew of her existence. It's written in conversational tone by a narcissistic bitchy narrator who looks down on everyone else, although she's the one in prison. It's not a mystery as such, because she tells us from the beginning how many murders she has committed, but there is still an unexpected and well-plotted ending. Great macabre fun.
5. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt - This month's family book club book chosen by My Cousin Rachael. Two brothers are hired as hit-men to bump off a goldminer who has worked out a formula for finding more of the precious metal more easily. Their travels take them across Oregon in a Wild West picaresque series of events that recall Mark Twain crossed with Cormac McCarthy. Shortlisted for the 2011 Booker Prize and made into a 2018 film (starring John C. Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix), it seems like a deceptively simple and straightforward stoic narrative but there are nuggets of profound existentialism if you dig deep enough.