Being Light

by HelenSmith (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2000

  $10.86

  A delightfully weird and funny second novel from Helen Smith. Main players from the first, Alison Wonderland, reappear on the sidelines and characters that were on the periphery take centre stage. A man floats off on a Bouncy Castle on a local hospital appeal Fun Day. He loses consciousness as he feels himself getting nearer to the sun and 'wakes up' in the arms of the beautiful and plump Sylvia Arrow, an ex-acrobat harbouring a stolen elephant. Roy's wife Sheila, devastated by his disappearance, becomes convinced that he's been abducted by aliens. Meanwhile in London an environmentalist called Jeremy, who wears a dress and smells of Nivea (and who turns out to be Sylvia's brother), is being followed by journalist Jane Memory, who is determined to get a better job and to bring his campaign to the attention of the world. All the characters in the book are connected to each other but it's only in the last scene that they come together: in a field, where Roy is poised to walk Sylvia's tightrope, because he thinks he's dead anyway. Helen Smith's imagination is fantastical. She plays with ideas and the reader's expectations delightfully, while keeping a steady and focused eye on contemporary life and sensibilities. Being Light touches on animal rights, mobile phones, the circus, the destruction of hedgerows, child rearing, alien abduction and advertising. But it also touches on the more enduring themes of falling in love, betrayal and wishful thinking.