One More River by
Nicolas Freeling
hbk out February 98
Published by Little,Brown
at £16.99
No one could accuse Nicholas Freeling of predictability. He is one of
the few British crime writers who have a distinctively European voice,
and for over thirty years his novels have defied categorisation. One
More River is the story of John Charles, a
70-year-old crime novelist living in rural France. One evening, someone
takes a potshot at him, shattering his smug contentment. Why should
anyone want to kill him? After another murder attempt and the
destruction of his house, John drifts warily through Europe, stirring up
old memories; he needs to revisit his past before the present catches up
with him.
The narrative, which oscillates between first and third person, purports
to be a transcription of his notebook. The prose is awkward and
literary, as if English were not the first language of the author -
John, presumably, not Freeling. There are echoes of Rogue Male and
knowing references to deceased friends - Graham in his flat in Antibes,
Pat Highsmith, and dear old Monsieur Simenon. John is a divided man, who
for reasons of his own has made himself into a caricature of the
eccentric Englishman abroad; the book is in one sense a meditation on
nationality. Despite an awesomely implausible coincidence that emerges
at the end, this is a novel which lingers in the memory. Truth is
glimpsed, not revealed. Freeling makes the reader as well as John work
towards understanding.
This review was first published in the Independent, 28 February 1998
(
Andrew Taylor
- author of the highly acclaimed Roth & Lydmouth Series)
One More River by
Nicolas Freeling