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A review by keysersuze
Supporting Cast by Kit de Waal
4.0
This had been on my TBR pile for a while, partly due to the reviews I’ve seen of other Kit de Waal writings, but also because of the sheer number of mentions and conversations I’ve had or heard about this author. A bit like when you’ve learned a new word or have just started running – you hear it everywhere.
The format also suited my current reading state, shying away from more standard chapter separated and longform prose and towards more bite sized pieces.
“Supporting Cast” is a series of vignettes, small paintings of someone’s life in two pages or less. It’s a whirlwind of life and loss, of love and memory. At first I tried to remember the names, location and dates for each title but there are so many it was distracting me from the story itself.
The people in the pages spring forth fully formed, but mid conversation. Each one takes you through their wedding, divorce, death, journey – release from prison, holiday to a caravan site or Europe, in a way which I always felt I was running to join in but, like a ceilidh, once you’re in and you know the steps, it all falls into place.
One point about this which, I confess, I wasn’t aware of when I started reading this – the characters in this book have appeared in other novels and short stories of Kit De Waal’s. I have some catching up to do, but I don’t think it impacted my enjoyment of this. In fact, I think I’d love to come back to it after reading some more of her stuff and connecting those dots as we learn more about the background characters and mentioned locations. It’s such a great idea, I love it that the end of a book or story doesn’t mean the end – they’re still living their lives and dreaming of the next train trip or family get together. I’d be interested to know what it’s like for someone who’s read everything and can spot the references.
Recommended for some short – but not light hearted – stories. They are all wonderfully human but some of them are quite hard to read as they’re so packed full of emotion.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC. This book is out to buy at the end of July - pre-order now!
The format also suited my current reading state, shying away from more standard chapter separated and longform prose and towards more bite sized pieces.
“Supporting Cast” is a series of vignettes, small paintings of someone’s life in two pages or less. It’s a whirlwind of life and loss, of love and memory. At first I tried to remember the names, location and dates for each title but there are so many it was distracting me from the story itself.
The people in the pages spring forth fully formed, but mid conversation. Each one takes you through their wedding, divorce, death, journey – release from prison, holiday to a caravan site or Europe, in a way which I always felt I was running to join in but, like a ceilidh, once you’re in and you know the steps, it all falls into place.
One point about this which, I confess, I wasn’t aware of when I started reading this – the characters in this book have appeared in other novels and short stories of Kit De Waal’s. I have some catching up to do, but I don’t think it impacted my enjoyment of this. In fact, I think I’d love to come back to it after reading some more of her stuff and connecting those dots as we learn more about the background characters and mentioned locations. It’s such a great idea, I love it that the end of a book or story doesn’t mean the end – they’re still living their lives and dreaming of the next train trip or family get together. I’d be interested to know what it’s like for someone who’s read everything and can spot the references.
Recommended for some short – but not light hearted – stories. They are all wonderfully human but some of them are quite hard to read as they’re so packed full of emotion.
Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for the ARC. This book is out to buy at the end of July - pre-order now!