Here We Are

Graham Swift's new novel begins in England in 1959  in the waning days of the music hall scene. Jack Robbins is a song and dance man who emcees a variety show in Brighton that summer. He enlists his army buddy and magician, Ronnie Deane, into performing there too and suggests that he hire an alluring assistant who will appeal to the audience. Eighteen year old Evie White answers his ad and joins his act and the relationship quickly moves beyond the professional and the two become engaged. As the Great Pablo and Eve the pair become a hit at the seaside resort.

There are three main characters but this is Ronnie's story. He is the son of a merchant seaman and his wife, Agnes, a sharp tempered cleaning lady. The bombs are falling on their neighbourhood in East London during World War 2 and Agnes makes the heart-wrenching decision to evacuate eight year old Ronnie to Oxfordshire to keep him safe. Unlike many of these child refugees little Ronnie lands in a good spot with a couple, the Lawrences, who were unable to have children and welcomed this new addition to their family. These were idyllic years, far from the wartime horrors of Bethnal Green. It is his foster father who teaches magic to Ronnie.

The important figures in Ronnie's life all disappear suddenly. They are there one moment and then they are gone, like some sort of real life magic trick. His father is lost at sea, his foster father and natural mother both die prematurely of natural causes and we learn that his foster mother also passed away at a relatively young age. 

When Ronnie's mother dies he goes to London for a few days to take care of details and returns to Brighton to find that Evie has taken up with Jack. The stage is set for Ronnie's final illusion.We are then fast-forwarded to 2009 and Evie, now a 75-year-old widow, reflecting on her relationship with Ronnie and her affair with Jack. 

It's a quiet novel, imbued with longing and regret, with Swift moving the story back and forth in time with his usual understatement and deftness. 

My previous reviews of books by Graham Swift: Mothering Sunday, Waterland, Wish You Were Here, Tomorrow, The Light Of Day. Missing from this list is Last Orders which I liked very much. I read it before I started writing reviews.