Friends and family

THE FRIENDLY ONES

by Philip Hensher (HarperCollins, $35) Reviewed by Lori Nims

Choosing a book to read is a tricky business; usually it’s the title that leads me to my final choice. Once I’m reeled in and reading, I want to know why that title was splashed on the cover. South London-born novelist Philip Hensher made me wait until page 368 for the reason his book was called the friendly ones. Aha, I get it, I thought, but I was wrong. Just a few pages later, “the friendly ones” takes on a new meaning. Then again. And again. Each change adds a new layer of meaning to the actions of the characters and a twist to the story.

In his tenth book, Hensher tells a story, through two English families living in Sheffield, about what we will do for love. The Spinsters are an established English family and not a one of them is taller than 5’4’’; the Sharifullah family arrived in 1976, fleeing the chaos of the newly created Bangladesh. They are neighbours and unlikely to be more than nodding acquaintances when Hilary, the head of the Spinster family, is abruptly pulled into the Sharifullah’s lives.

Hensher tells the story of each family in long stretches, making it easy to lose track of the many brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts and uncles. Both families are large and a list of who’s who at the start would have been helpful. Hensher cheerfully admits “the plot of the novel has been quite consciously taken from The Winter’s Tale and from Eugene Onegin”.

He hasn’t just written a story of love’s curious power, but a tale of loss and redemption. He leaves it to the reader to sort out who has lost and been redeemed. This provides opportunity to engage in the sort of happy argument richly enjoyed by his main characters.

As usual, love conquers all, just not in the way we expect it to. At 579 pages, the friendly ones isn’t a beach read but it will handily fill those many rainy afternoons to come.