Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
By Catherine De Saint Phalle, Transit Lounge, $29.99.
The title comes from the name of a fish and chip shop. It’s the story of Harold who has spent 18 years living and working in South Korea. He is back in Australia from Seoul and rents a room above the shop.
It’s about people and the influence they have on you and how that can shape you. This is an uplifting novel about yearning, skiving and the people we unpredictably come to love.
Harold is estranged from his mother, his lover and friends. He wants to avoid emotional hurt, so he refuses to let anyone come close. He starts to question his own yearnings and shortcomings after he meets people and the experiences he has with individuals. He fights for meaning and a sense of place that can only be reached by facing what is lost.
Coming together is an assorted crew of dissimilar characters who on the outside appear very dissimilar, but who bond in unanticipated ways. Verity has a tragic past. She has given him the room to rent. Ben befriends Harold with a casual intimacy. Then there’s people Harold has left behind in Korea, who nonetheless appear throughout the book.
Catherine skillfully captures disparate characters and their common human desire for community and connection. An appealing feature is the minimalism and directness in the written word. It’s a remarkable offering.
The author was shortlisted for the 2017 Stella Prize for Poum and Alexandre: A Paris Memoir.
