Lead Review
- Book: A Girl Made of Air
- Location: Coney Island
- Author: Nydia Hetherington
Our protagonist, known only by her nickname “mouse” throughout the novel, was born into a post-war circus family and was almost totally neglected and forgotten, left to creep about at the feet of the circus people, spying on the events in the big top and finding what nourishment and comfort she could. Aptly nicknamed. And then Serendipity Wilson, fabulous, surreal funambulist with flaming red hair, takes her under her wing, nurtures her and draws her out of the shadows into the light (and indeed the limelight).
The novel commences with Mouse as an adult, haunted by the events of her childhood generally and specifically by the loss of a child from the circus. It is through her eyes that we follow the events of the novel, as she narrates the story of her life in a series of correspondence to a New York Times journalist. We learn how she, under the tutelage of Serendipity, learns the art of the funambulist, eventually becoming the star of the circus and how she, for a while, becomes part of a family with Serendipity and her baby, Bunny. But tragedy is always lurking in the wings and, following a series of dreadful events, Mouse leaves the unconventional life of the circus to flee to New York and begin a life as a Coney Island Street performer, finally achieving fame. She is driven, however, not by ambition but by guilt, guilt for the loss of the child from the circus, for which she feels responsible and by the need to hunt her down.
The narrative is interspersed with dark and magical traditional Manx fables, which add to the sense of unreality in the novel. It is difficult to distinguish between illusion and reality, artifice and openness. The reader is often in the same place as poor Mouse, not understanding the world around them. The characterisation in A Girl Made of Air is nothing short of a tour de force. These are vivid creatures of light and shade (granted more shade than light) who appear briefly in the narrative then move off into the wings, from Manu and Marina, Mouse’s neglectful parents, who are more obsessed with their own lives and issues to care for her, to Serendipity, part earth-mother, part disturbing spirit. It is only when she reaches New York that Mouse finds some people who are really there for her, although we need to see beneath the grotesque surface to find their true worth.
A Girl Made of Air brings its twin settings of an English circus and New York’s Coney Island to life in all of their grime and glitter, although it has to be said that, overall, we see much more of the dirt, the depravity and the grotesque than we do of magic and wonder. The novel is skilfully crafted, packed with powerful imagery and description, which stays in the reader’s mind. It’s not a cheerful read but it feels extremely powerful and truthful.
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