Books & Poetry

‘When I was 13, my father killed my mother.’ From this opening bombshell, Charles Lambert’s debut novel, set in post-war Britain, is compelling.

Following the violent act that will forever define how she sees herself, only child Carol is dispatched by social workers to live with her mother’s sister and her family. Bitter Aunt Margot has little affection for 13-year-old Carole and she finds her cousin Nicholas too stupid to befriend. Salvation lies in her aunt’s husband, Polish émigré Josef, who came to England following his flight from Nazi rule. In him Carol finds the emotional stability and love around which her future life will be shaped.

The story segues between Carol’s recollection of her childhood and present-day Italy, where she and Josef now live and where she works as a volunteer teaching English at a holding camp for newly arrived illegal immigrants. Fresh off the boat is Kakuna, a Kurdish girl, the same age Carol was when she arrived at her aunt’s. The relationship that forms between Carol and Kakuna forces her to recall her own childhood and reevaluate her relationship with Josef.

The dark arts of awakening sexuality and newly learned manipulation are themes that bubble beneath the surface, and although Lambert’s handling of them feels at times more like a clumsy fumble than an guaranteed conquest, it doesn’t detract from the enjoyment. Carol is a beguiling character, accountable for her own destiny. With his assured characterisation, Lambert reads like a writer at the height of his game rather than one just starting out.