Booker Binge 2017:
Autumn by Ali Smith
This book is set in those weird few months after
the Event the Brexit referendum, but darts backwards and forwards along the main character's life along with that of a British Pop Artist I'd never heard of (
Pauline Boty), the life of Christine Keeler, and various character's dreams.
The opening sequence in a post office where she struggles with bureaucracy is great fun, and in several passages the author really captures what life was like on this island a whole year ago, particularly the general state of bewilderment. The dream sequences and the almost poetic language added to this sense that things were changing.
I'm wondering if the subplots of Christine Keeler and Pauline Boty were used to draw a parallel with 2016: both being watershed moments in our nation's history when the old assumptions all suddenly changed. And of course, autumn heralds the drawing in of the year.
I really need to re-read this one soon because I know there's loads of details in the novel that I haven't picked up on as I continue this marathon, but I'm not sure if in ten years we will empathise with the characters trying to understand Brexit in the way we do today.
Three done; three to go!