Offshore

I liked Penelope Fitzgerald's The Blue Flower so much that I decided to read another of her novels, Offshore. Both are such slim works that they are more novellas than novels. This one is set in relatively modern times - the 1960s. It focuses on a community of misfits living on barges on the Thames. Most of the action occurs around a single mother of two precocious children in a time when single motherhood still had a bit of a stigma attached to it. Other characters include an elderly marine artist, a buttoned down ex-military type, a male prostitute and more. It's clear why Fitzgerald won the Booker for this one - it takes a great deal of skill to deliver so many fully formed characters so concisely. Fitzgerald is an economical yet elegant writer and makes a lot happen in just 140 pages or so without it seeming forced or rushed.
I have one more of her novels (The Bookshop) on the shelf but I think I'll save it for later; I don't want to get too much of a good thing.