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Novel set in Seville (meeting younger selves on honeymoon)

24th September 2018

A Meeting in Seville by Paul A Mendelson, novel set in Seville.

Novel set in SevilleA book featuring a boarding card to Seville the cover! What’s not to like in TripFiction terms.

The author has created a wonderful concept. William and Luisa Sutherland have been bundled off by their daughter and son-in-law to Seville, to regroup as a couple and have a second honeymoon (2018) 30 years after their first honeymoon (1988).

William is a curmudgeonly quaffer who struggles to get his wife to listen to him. Their marriage is de facto in a bit of trouble. He is also using the trip to engage in a bit of business which takes him to the Plaza de la Real Maestranza de Caballeria de Sevilla for the corrida spectacle (yes, that’s the bull ring with live bull fights etc) with the venerable Señor Barbadillo, so he is probably more engaged with his laptop and the Señor than with his wife. Never a good thing.

It is Semana Santa, the week leading up to Easter and thus the town is buzzing with processions and floats and all manner of carnival. Decibels, people, noise and colour fill the streets and the author beautifully captures the feel and wonder of the city. The warm sunlight bathes the pages of the novel.

Crucially, at the heart of the book, is the couple’s surreal encounter with their younger selves, Will and Lu, who are in the middle of their honeymoon. Meeting them highlights for William and Luisa how life has panned out for them and perhaps how things can be different….. With a wry and often humorous look at marriage and life, the author has created a thoughtful and very visual story.

The writing in this novel is creative and very good.  The story, though, seems to suffer a little as a cost – the prose is the highlight and it is what I remember, the story not so much. I found that I spent quite some time flipping back to regroup on the story (which can be a chore and real detractor). It somehow feels like the camera angles are just off key (and the author does do a lot of writing for TV). The elision between passages and chapters needs to be smoother in order to create a really engrossing and fluid storyline.

Tina for the TripFiction Team

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Comments

  1. User: barbara baer

    Posted on: 25/09/2018 at 3:48 am

    Enjoyed the succinct review though probably wouldn’t read the novel because story sounds somewhat forced. Setting and style would be key.

    Comment

    1 Comment

    • User: tripfiction

      Posted on: 25/09/2018 at 8:33 am

      Very well put, yes, beautiful portrayal of locale…

      Comment