The Porpoise

Mark Haddon

Markedly different from his breakthrough novel The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The NightTime, Mark Haddon’s latest work The Porpoise retains its ability to envelop the reader in an imaginative new world. Starting with the modern tragedy of a fatal air crash and the uncovering of a dark secret, the novel then turns into a tale of history and myth, being woven by a teenage girl – sole crash survivor Angelica. A whirlwind of sea voyages to plague-ridden ports, royal murder plots, Greek goddesses, and the ghost of Shakespeare, it is an updating of one of the Bard’s lesser known works – Pericles, Prince of Tyre – itself a reworking of the Greek myth of Apollonius, and said to be written in part by playwright George Wilkins. This gripping and evocative novel questions the nature of the stories we tell ourselves and others. 7/10