Book Reviews: November 2014

Nottingham: From Old Photographs
Joseph Earp
£12.99 (Amberley Books)
Nottingham’s had a few makeovers over the centuries. Starting out as a small Anglo Saxon settlement, we were briefly known as the ‘Garden City’ on account of our lush pastures before transforming into an ugly turd when industrialisation came knocking. The Nottingham Hidden History Team (NHHT) have shared these stories through eloquent essays and public talks but here opt for a simpler format of photograph and accompanying text. Most photographs come from their own archives and are brought to life in this 128 page social document exploring the caves, pubs, architecture, castle, industry, public space and street life. It is no coincidence, perhaps, that the NHHT was formed in 1965, the year that Maid Marian Way was flattened and a ring road inserted that effectively cut our main tourist location off from the centre. Duh. But, as the author acknowledges, this is incentive for us to fight to preserve what we still have.
James Walker

The Esplanade
Roberta Dewa
£7.99 (Weathervane Press)
If Pulp Fiction is a rollercoaster, a fast-paced whizz through dramatic twists and turns, then Roberta Dewa’s latest novel is a reverent amble through an art gallery. You’ll slowly wander past image after image, each with its own story to tell. A challenging and thought-provoking read, it deals with some pretty heavyweight themes, examining loss of voice, abstracted identity and detachment from the self. The novel begins with the discovery of a dead body on a beach. It then goes on to tell the story of two women entwined with the man and the key found within his pocket. In quiet, tortured contemplation, the two women examine their past and the way their round, womanly voices have been hushed. Throughout the narrative, Dewa has contributed to the feminist discourse with Greer-­like intelligence and tenacity. Smart, fresh, feminine and linguistically stunning: The Esplanade is a literary joy.
Katie Hutchcraft

Celeste
INJ Culbard
£15.99 (SelfMadeHero)
After a stunning opening zoom in from the outskirts of the galaxy to the blue marble of Earth, Culbard tells a story about loneliness, courage and honesty in his first self-penned graphic novel. In Japan, a disillusioned comic artist walks into a haunted forest, intent on suicide. On a crowded London tube, two commuters make an instant connection when they lock eyes for a moment. In an LA traffic jam, an anxious man gets a call from the police about his wife. A moment later, everyone else in the world vanishes without explanation. Then things get really weird. Culbard’s simple lines and impeccable storytelling haul in Japanese demons, inexplicably airborne gridlock and a floating rose petal that may be at the centre of it all. He unfolds his surreal story without losing sight of the three flawed people at the heart of all this Lynchian strangeness. Baffling, intriguing and very beautiful.
Robin Lewis

Duke and Disorderly
Andrew Graves/Toni Radev
Free (Dawn of the Unread)
This comic explores the eccentric fifth Duke of Portland - a mentalist toff. He had loads of tunnels built under Welbeck Abbey, presumably because he couldn’t bear to mix with others. He also painted his rooms pink (deemed masculine during the Victorian period), carried a mole around, and gave umbrellas and donkeys as gifts to staff. His ghost is brought back to life after two kids have a squabble on their phone, with the deadpan humour we’ve come to expect and love from our favourite ‘MulletProof’ poet. Most intriguing is the subplot of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s visit to Welbeck a few months before the outbreak of WWI, where he was nearly shot in a freak accident. Nottingham could, potentially, have avoided WWI. Embedded in the content is a quiz to discover whether ‘you are a toff or the next duke of Poundland’ and a video of the surrounding area by historian John Charlesworth.
Sam Smith