The Children's Book - A.S. Byatt

It's not that often that I really, really enjoy a book. I read six to eight books a month, and probably genuinely sink into six a year. Last years favourites were:
- The Millenium Trilogy
- The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill
- Child 44
- The Post-Birthday World

The Children's Book was one of those tales that engaged me from the off. Things have been stressful and busy lately, and the ease of story in the beginning sucked me in, and quickly won my committment. A good thing since it matured into a more serious read. It was a remarkably simple start, with a pursuit through catacombs under a museum, which echoed the mind-numbers I read to relax (hello Charlaine Harris). Deceptive though. The book quickly evolves into an exceptionally well-written, researched, engaging piece of literature with multiple plot lines and a larger than usual cast of brilliantly developed characters.

The story follows the lives of several families - the Wellwoods (two of these!), the Cains, the Fludds, the Warren siblings and some peripheral characters. There were so many themes in the book, brilliantly juxtaposed. English country earthiness (there were sections that made me think of DH Lawrence, they were so pastoral. I haven't thought about DH Lawrence in years!) and urban conventions, youth and adulthood, genius and insanity, expectation and promise, feminism and activism, class divides as opposed to wealth divides, ambition and apathy... Not to mention multiple storylines, plays within plays, languages and countries. It was a hugely ambitious book; baffling, when I think about it.

At the start of the book, the cast of characters are firmly divided into children and adults. The book ends with the children as adults without ever seeming to gloss over time. Byatt uses a summary of the period as a device to take the reader across the years effortlessly, and it works remarkably. The children have distinct personalites, with traits presented rather than narrated. The result being that one feels like they have a relationship with that character, almost as though you have gotten to know them. The adults are somewhat more obvious, and the portrayal of their flaws (multiple) is matter of fact rather than swayed by judgement implicit in the tone of the writing. The adults simply are.

Tone is key in this book. There are moments of happy, carefree, familial scenes, as well as tragic scenes. I actually did feel close to tears at the end, which was unfortunate since I was on the tube at seven am - people would have thought I was having a breakdown. The worst thing about the book was the synopsis, which made it sound mundane and bland. I hope it doesn't put anyone off, this was one of the better books I've read recently, and it will no doubt feature in my Christmas gift baskets (no doubt my grandmother will be all aquiver).