Fall by West Camel

Today is my stop on the blog tour for the fantastic Fall by West Camel. And it really does unfold like a spell, I completely agree with Carol Lovekin there. Huge thanks to Anne Cater at Random Things Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy.

 

The Blurb

Twins Aaron and Clive have been estranged for forty years. Aaron still lives in the empty, crumbling tower block on the riverside in Deptford where they grew up. Clive is a successful property developer, determined to turn the tower into luxury flats. But Aaron is blocking the plan and their petty squabble becomes something much greater when two ghosts from the past – twins Annette and Christine – appear in the tower. At once, the desolate estate becomes a stage on which the events of one scorching summer are relived – a summer that changed their lives forever. Evocative, thought-provoking and exquisitely written, Fall is an unforgettable story of friendship and family – of perception, fear and prejudice, the events that punctuate our journeys into adulthood, and the indelible scars they leave…

 

My Review

This is my first West Camel novel although his debut, Attend, is in my TBR pile. It's also a break from my usual fodder of crime fiction and a very refreshing one at that. 

Aaron and Clive Goldsworthy are twins. They're in their 60s and haven't spoken for 40 years. Clive's company wants to develop the high rise block they grew up in and where Aaron still lives. Alone. All the other residents have moved out but Aaron is determined to block Clive's plans. Clearly something serious has happened in the twins' lives to cause such animosity and slowly we uncover what happened on a fateful night in 1976 and how it changed the lives of everyone involved. 

The story is told in a dual timeline - the present day and then one starting when the men moved to the tower as boys with their mother Zoë and ending in the late 70s, maybe early 80s. It is 1976 when they meet another set of twins, Annette and Christine, who are a little older than them and the first black people to live in the estate. 

I loved the description of the twins, both sets. Aaron and Clive, so similar and yet so different. When we meet them as old men, their world weariness is well described, their aches and pains, and their loneliness. I think for Aaron particularly, who hasn't had the successful life that Clive has. There are a couple of lines at the end of a chapter which said so much and for me was one of the saddest moments in the book. 

'He's never got used to doing things alone. So he does very few things.'

And the girls - in many ways the opposite of Aaron and Clive - free spirited, centre of attention, well liked with lots of friends. It's these attributes that attract the boys to them. Their mother isn't pleased. Zoë is a complicated character - I wasn't sure I liked her - and we don't really know her. But so many things are revealed throughout the book. 

The author has an unusual storytelling style. We view the action from above, or through the window or open door. Initially it was like we were a bird moving with the wind but it was more like we were just moving through the air, following characters into rooms, down stairs - it made it feel more real, three-dimensional and I loved it. But I think I've described it really badly!  Talking about the wind, one of my favourite little moments was 

'He steps out and the wind catches his head in its grasp, runs fingers through his hair and then gads off over the river, laughing and looking back. Laughing again.'

As I said at the beginning, quoting Carol Lovekin because she's far more eloquent than I, the story unfolds like a spell, and, for me, this is it's real strength. I was rocked by events and revelations time and time again. Things I didn't see coming, or expect, but which fitted the storyline perfectly. And it is all told so cleverly and beautifully. 

Fall is a fascinating book. With gorgeous descriptions and accurately drawn characters it tells of family, friendship, love, anger, resentment and redemption. But it also talks about prejudice, injustice and inaction. Someone, Aaron I think, says at one point 'We should say something.' This strikes me as something we should all take on board as there is still so much prejudice, discrimination and injustice going on around us. But this book also speaks to me of the importance of staying close to the ones we love, talking to them even when we don't want to, not letting ill feelings fester away. And finally, it's about the beautiful, devastating power of words. I will be thinking about Fall for a long time yet. 

The Author

Born and bred in south London – and not the Somerset village with which he shares a name – West Camel worked as an editor in higher education and business before turning his attention to the arts and publishing. He has worked as a book and arts journalist, and was editor at Dalkey Archive Press, where he edited the Best European Fiction 2015 anthology, before moving to new press Orenda Books just after its launch. He currently combines his work as editorial director at Orenda with editing The Riveter magazine and #RivetingReviews for the European Literature Network. He has also written several short scripts, which have been produced in London’s fringe theatres, and was longlisted for the Old Vic’s 12 playwrights project. His debut novel, Attend was published in 2018, and was shortlisted for the Polari First Book Prize and longlisted for the Waverton Good Read Award. His second novel, Fall is published this month. Follow West on Twitter @west_camel and on his website www.westcamel.net.