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Destiny and Dynasty
By Nick White
Amazon.co.uk, Ltd., Marston Gate, UK, 2015, pb, 179 pp
ISBN: 978-1-5023-31271-6
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Reviewed by Gëzim Alpion
Birmingham, 31st December 2015
Destiny and Dynasty is Nick White’s first novel. There are a couple
of books by established authors which I must confess I have not had the patience
to read through to the end. White’s debut is a literary gem any serious writer
would dream of starting their career with.
A good book tells
an interesting story; a great book makes you feel the story is written for you.
I initially came across the latter type of storytelling some thirty years ago
when as a student in Cairo I discovered D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, James
Baldwin and Joyce Cary. What I admired most about their first literary attempts
as novelists was their courage and talent to turn some of their own life experiences
into art. I was equally impressed by the attention they paid to their early formative
years thus showing that there is method in the Wordsworthian maxim ‘The Child
is the father of the Man’.
This is not to
say that White’s novel is semi/auto-biographical. Nor is the book’s main character
Michael Sumner a doppelganger of
sorts for some of the early heroes – Paul Morel, Stephen Dedalus, John Grimes
or Evelyn Corner – penned by the above-mentioned writers. Rather, he has a life
and originality of his own which explains why he is such an unusual and yet
entirely believable character.
Michael emerges from the
start as someone who stands out, even as a child. He has more than his fair
share of misfortunes since he is twelve. This is not
what makes him unusual or special, though. Misfortunes do not make those who
are at the receiving end interesting figures per se. In life, as in fiction, many suffer but few overcome the
harsh trials and tribulations of capricious fate that often defies logic.
Although often
vulnerable, Michael is fundamentally a survivor. And he chooses to survive not
by following the easy options in life. On the contrary, he takes risks even
when it is almost certain that he will be hurt, at times seriously.
The intriguing
thing about Michael is that he can easily lead the people he associates with and
cares about as much
as the reader to believe that he is an easily manipulated character. White
never makes a statement that his main hero is on a
quest. The reader is expected, and rightly so, to realise this for himself.
What makes this realisation rather difficult at times as well as an entertaining
challenge is the fact that Michael himself does not seem to have a clearly
stated goal in mind. He is haunted constantly by something although we do not
know what exactly from. He wants to go somewhere but we are none the wiser at
any stage in the novel about his ultimate destiny. He does not want to run a
church like his love interest Naomi; nor is he tempted to run away from civilisation
and be a hermit like Ian. On the contrary, ne never wants to be in control and
is eager to remain in touch with people even when it is clear that this more
often than not will bring him trouble and sorrow rather than satisfaction
and happiness.
It is clear that
Michael tries hard to make sense of the senseless waste of life, which he
experiences first hand with the sudden loss of his family. Nothing could have
prepared him for this; not even the fateful meeting with Madame Indigo, the
fortune teller, whose words, in hindsight, take a complete new and sinister
meaning for this indigo child.
What makes
Michael an intriguing psychological character is that he speaks through his
silence. White spares
us tedious psychological monologues that a less scrupulous stylist could have
been tempted to employ at the detriment of the
inferred aesthetic reticence.
After the family
tragedy, Michael is haunted by the nightmare of falling. His challenge from
then onwards is to
clutch at something, anything, in the hope that his life would assume some semblance
of normalcy. This never happens, but he tries constantly
nevertheless.
What is
intriguing about Michael, a sensitive soul as he is, is that although he
creates the impression that he is impressionable and can be easily manipulated, he is always
his own enigmatic self. This is apparent at various stages in the novel, even
when he leaves the impression that he is under someone else’s thumb. One such case is when, against his Aunt’s expressive advice, he
follows Elizabeth Ravenscroft’s counsel to get rid of his mother’s diary and
his brother’s teddy bear. This more than anything else indicates that he will
not be held hostage by the memory of the departed loved ones, at least not to
the extent to prevent himself from enjoying
life or at least keep trying. Even his infatuation with Naomi makes more sense
if it is seen in this light. Rather than apparently being besotted with Naomi,
Michael is in love with the idea of being in love.
While Michael
obviously craves to connect, the tragedy is that he can find no trustworthy
people or institutions worthy of connecting with. His manager is a heartless creature
and he is not the only cruel employer in the novel. Even a religious
institution like the Triumphant Life Church (TLC) is void of true feelings and
solidarity. The church lacks soul. Rather than a place of worship, the TLC is
in essence a business venture that was started by a crook and inherited by a
knave, and which most likely will end up in the hands of an equally
unscrupulous fake shepherdess. The vivid depiction of the state the TLC is in,
how it operates, and how it manipulates its flock, is a heartfelt condemnation
not so much of religion per se as a
courageous effort to highlight the failure of institutions to fulfil their
responsibility, bring people together, and forge social cohesion at a time when
we continue to leave an increasingly fragmented existence.
James Ravenscroft,
the head of the TLC, is a religious hypocrite and a misogynist. He is the
reason why his daughter has turned into such a troubled soul, almost a Heathcliff-like
creature.
Michael appears
to understand from the first encounter with Naomi that something is
fundamentally wrong with her. The fact that he is drawn to her to the end,
however, as mentioned earlier, does not mean that he is an emotional dupe.
Likewise, partly because of his own observations and partly because of the
nature of the three tasks Naomi asks him to perform for her in exchange of wining
his affection, it is clear that Michael is under no illusion as to what kind of
church the TLC is. The fact that he falls in love with and follows doggedly a
girl he knows is incapable of loving him back, and starts attending a church
that is anything but a pious spiritual centre makes him sound at times like someone
who does not know what he is after.
The choices
Michael makes, however, odd as some of them obviously they are, are indicative of
something crucial about him, something that is beyond corruptibility. He may
have not found for the time being a girl who can reciprocate his love or a
church where he can find solace for his troubled soul, but he will never
apparently turn into a manipulative and killing misanthrope of the James and
Naomi type. Nor will he apparently end up being a runner like Ian whose failure
as a spouse and a father as well as the disappointment he experiences with
James turn him into a quitter who escapes into the Welsh wilderness only to
return back to the fold of civilisation to confront evil unsuccessfully and die
an anonymous death.
Notwithstanding
Michael’s importance as the main protagonist, the novel is a gallery of several
memorable charters. This is mainly as a result of the original way the novelist
employs the narrative which is economical and rich in its suggestiveness. The
author is an astute observer of humans, nature and their interaction. This is a
literary work as much as a sophisticated study on how complex, vile and lofty
human beings can be. The narrative is often peppered with witty observations
and humorous asides which make the novel enjoyable to read even when describing
awkward moments in the characters’ lives.
Nick White has
not made it easy on himself by writing such a delightful first novel.
