Summerland

In the bookshop

Malcolm Knox was born in 1966. He grew up in Sydney and studied in Sydney and Scotland, where his one-act play, POLEMARCHUS, was performed in St Andrews and Edinburgh. His first novel SUMMERLAND was published to great acclaim in the UK, US, Australia and Europe in 2000. In 2001 Malcolm was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald's Best Young Australian novelists. He lives in Sydney with his wife Wenona and 2 kids. His most recent novel, A PRIVATE MAN won the 2005 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Crime Novel. 

Source: http://www.crimedownunder.com/malcolmknox.html

One might think that an author who invokes The Great Gatsby on page three of his debut novel suffers from a severe case of hubris. This is just what Malcolm Knox does in Summerland. He lets one of the protagonists, the narrator, Richard, stand looking over the shores of Sydney Harbor just like Nick Carraway, whom he resembles in more ways than one. Richard then goes on to tell the story of the two married couples Hugh and Helen and Pup and himself.

Richard’s best friend Hugh, a charismatic heir to "the Mackie Agribusiness," is unbelievably rich and possesses charm, beauty, and absolutely no morals – business or other - at all. He marries the aptly named beautiful Helen but never seems to touch her in public. The narrator marries Phillippa Greenup aka Pup, who happens to have been Hugh’s childhood fling. Pup is a financial adviser and a frustrated novelist. The only time she writes well is when she writes her own story and she never gets published.

This rich, beautiful and successful foursome is intimately close friends who grow up, and grow apart, amid the seaside mansions, golf courses, and patio parties at Palm Beach. Both couples are childless and they spend a lot of time together. Sometimes when they go out to dinner, they reserve their table under "Mr. Gatsby and group." There's no question which of the diners is modeled on Jay Gatsby and which one on Nick Carraway.

The lives of these privileged people may look glamorous on the outside, but Summerland is a story of secrets and lies, deceit and rejection, luxury and self-destruction.

The author lets Richard narrate the whole story during one drunken night. Sometimes he goes backwards and forwards but he does not reveal all of it until the end. There is bitterness in his narrative voice, but also a wistful tone when he looks back on the halcyon days of their youth, the days before he found out that his life was just a mass of lies.

Summerland is an ambitious novel and a cleverly written one. It was well received by critics and, indeed, comparisons to The Great Gatsby were made. I take back everything I said about hubris earlier. Summerland is a great read, but not for those who want action.

Review by Sanne