VETERAN wordsmith Paul Bailey makes a welcome return to the world of fiction with his first novel since 2003’s Uncle Rudolf, and revisits familiar themes from his lauded canon.
Chapman’s Odyssey follows the unravelling of the life of actor turned author Harry Chapman.
While undergoing observation and facing operations, Harry delights hospital staff from his ward bed with poetry recitals while keeping a writerly ear on the dramas developing around him.
As he slips in and out of consciousness, helped by his painkillers, he is visited by ghosts of his past – particularly his acidtongued mother – and by ghosts of literary history, who are and have always been as real to him as anyone.
Insightful, poignant, humorous and surreal, this is a beautifully crafted novel by the Booker-shortlisted author, which demonstrates a rich appreciation of literature, a Dickensian flair for characterisation and uses a poetic economy of language.
Dean Haigh
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