TOBIAS Hill’s latest novel, What was Promised, takes us to the post-World War II London. Three immigrant families living in a war-ravaged part of East London are the key focus: Bernadette and Clarence Malcolm who have come to London from Jamaica; Dora and Solly Lazarus, two Jewish refugees from Danzig trying to start their life afresh in a strange land; and Mary and Michael Lockhart, originally from Birmingham and now are striving to make the best of their lives.

Divided into three sections set in 1948, 1968 and 1988 respectively, What was Promised covers four decades in total. Hill uses a highly descriptive narrative style coupled with beautiful lyrical prose resulting in an enjoyable reading experience, particularly for those who appreciate literary language more than the plot or story. To take one example, see how Hill describes Clarence’s feeling of isolation: “The sky is dull as a dead hearth. The sun is desolate, no heat, no strength, no comfort. Clarence’s boy knows, by heart, the true distance of the sun, its tens of millions of miles. In England that’s how it feels. And the people, too, they feel the same.” Another instance is Mary’s description of how it feels to be apart from Michael: “Tonight the lack of him is keen. The flat is hollow with his absence.”

Hill is also adept at crafting a loosely knit narrative line with enough omissions and cliffhangers to hook readers from the beginning. However, due to the constantly changing narrative perspective you need time and effort to familiarise yourself with the characters.

Jem, the only son of Bernadette and Clarence, is a sharp young boy who loves books and likes to invent stories and games for his friends. Mary and Michael have two daughters, Iris and Floss, who love listening to Jem’s stories. Iris, the youngest, is of a calm demeanour and takes after her mother. Floss, on the other hand, is strong and vocal like her father. Dora comes across Pond, a homeless orphan in the ruins, and adopts him as her son. Pond, however, is considered an outsider by the other children. As the children play in ruined houses and markets around Columbia Road, their parents strive to make sense of their surroundings.

Most of the first part of the novel is set around the markets of Columbia Road. Bernadette thinks of markets as crossroads because there “everything is lately come. Everything is foreign, and so nothing is foreign.” The same can be held true of London with all her strangers and foreigners.

Solly is an honest watchmaker who “is excited by others, invigorated by them, and often fearful of them.” Bernadette “wants to have a sunny disposition” but she realises that cheerfulness is “hard to do with dignity” whereas, “worry ruins them both.” She believes that when gone too far some things can’t be mended. Clarence, “six foot six of displaced air and manpower,” fought for Britain during the war but now he is the Banana King with a fruit crown.

These strangers in the city are in an endless search for a sense of belonging that has been destroyed by the war. “It isn’t what it was, this place. Six years of war, nine of rationing, and everywhere feels the pinch,” we are told. These characters are restarting their lives from scratch as the city around them is in a process of transformation.

The first section of the novel is particularly focused on London, so much so that the city assumes a character of its own — keenly watching the fates of its inhabitants unfold. London “dwarfs and belittles” some men but others “brace themselves against the city’s push, shove back, grab what they can and thrive” we are told. The city “loves the man who loves his business” and Michael, for one, feels he is up to the challenge. His entitled attitude towards life contradicts the ethical mindset of the other two families. Michael had a stroke in his youth that gave him a limp and a lust for easy money and a better lifestyle. This leads to an unfortunate incident that affects the lives and fates of all three families and children.

The latter two sections of the novel are more character-oriented and take us away from the area around Columbia Road. In addition to immigration, alienation, ambition and curiosity, What was Promised is also about love and its many wonders. The characters are beautifully drawn, both as individuals and as connected members of a community.

I would not recommend this novel to anyone looking for a quick read as it is a brilliant book in which every page is worth savouring.

What was Promised

(NOVEL)

By Tobias Hill

Bloomsbury Circus, UK

ISBN 978-1408840900

384pp.