Cover: Of Things Gone Astray by Janina Matthewson.
Waking one morning, a handful of disparate Londoners find themselves connected in ways they could never have dreamed - for each of them has had some aspect of their lives change radically without warning or explanation.
A reclusive old woman has lost the front of her house; an entire wall
has simply disappeared. Another woman's sense of direction has vanished, resulting in long, lost walks through neighbourhoods she knows she once knew; a man "loses" his job - when he goes to the office one morning he finds his entire building has gone and any proof of his having been employed there with it.
Another chap, a musical genius, rises to play the piano, only to find the keys of his beloved grand are missing. And, in the most unusual of all these scenarios, a young woman goes to Heathrow to welcome her lover home from Argentina and is devastated when she fails to show. Refusing to leave the airport or believe she's been jilted, the brokenhearted woman waits and waits and, as she stands sentry, she slowly turns into a tree.
Described as a "magical fable", Janina Matthewson's first novel has a dash of The Crane Wife and a whiff of Andrew Kaufman. Strangest of all, none of the characters is as surprised as you'd expect following such freakish turns of events.
At times, it feels like a collection of short story characters have been cobbled together to make a novel, many of whom feel like refugees from short stories the author had never quite finished. But there are still plenty of engaging elements. I especially liked the actress-turned-surrogate mother carrying a baby for a homosexual couple. During the pregnancy she played her most challenging, harrowing role ever, leaving one of the fathers-to-be concerned that all that emoting might cross the placenta and damage the unborn baby. She is a mere cameo but quite a stand-out.
