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katevane's review
5.0
Angell, Pearl and Little God is a dark and fascinating story of three people brought together by mutual need and mistrust.
Angell is a wealthy and respected lawyer, product of a public school. Pearl is a young woman from a middle-class family, working on a perfume counter, but discontented with her limited prospects. Little God has grown up in an orphanage and is trying to make his way as a boxer, while working as chauffeur to an aristocrat.
Angell, the lawyer, has intellect, wealth and social status. Little God has strength and aggression. Pearl is at first underestimated by both of them. What does she have, apart from beauty? Yet as the story unfolds, Pearl’s character emerges as stronger and more complex than even she knew.
The book was first published in 1970 and is a fascinating insight into a changing society. Three people who would normally be separated by their class are not exactly mixing as equals, but the old certainties are breaking down. They may be willing to break the rules to get what they want, but they’re no longer quite sure what the rules are.
As in all the greatest stories, the characters are not only in conflict with one another but with themselves. Angell thinks his interest in Pearl is aesthetic rather than sensual, Little God thinks he’ll never care about any woman but finds it’s not so simple after all. Pearl arguably has the greatest inner conflict of all.
Graham’s twisty plot and simple, elegant prose combine beautifully to tell a compelling story of power and desire.
Angell is a wealthy and respected lawyer, product of a public school. Pearl is a young woman from a middle-class family, working on a perfume counter, but discontented with her limited prospects. Little God has grown up in an orphanage and is trying to make his way as a boxer, while working as chauffeur to an aristocrat.
Angell, the lawyer, has intellect, wealth and social status. Little God has strength and aggression. Pearl is at first underestimated by both of them. What does she have, apart from beauty? Yet as the story unfolds, Pearl’s character emerges as stronger and more complex than even she knew.
The book was first published in 1970 and is a fascinating insight into a changing society. Three people who would normally be separated by their class are not exactly mixing as equals, but the old certainties are breaking down. They may be willing to break the rules to get what they want, but they’re no longer quite sure what the rules are.
As in all the greatest stories, the characters are not only in conflict with one another but with themselves. Angell thinks his interest in Pearl is aesthetic rather than sensual, Little God thinks he’ll never care about any woman but finds it’s not so simple after all. Pearl arguably has the greatest inner conflict of all.
Graham’s twisty plot and simple, elegant prose combine beautifully to tell a compelling story of power and desire.
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