In praise of Kate De Goldi's latest novel
Eddy Smallbone, the protagonist of Kate de Goldi’s latest novel Eddy, Eddy, is an orphan. In the tradition of many orphans in literature, he’s saved from loneliness and penury by a kind benefactor, in this case, his Uncle Brian (known as Brain). Brain is loving, gentle and, as a research librarian and lover of literature, he brings up his young nephew with a vast knowledge of, and keen appreciation for, language, literature, and music.
The book's structure is like entering a labyrinth. It meanders and twists, moves from place to place, between past and present, with events and places visited prompting recollections and revelations. The characters who populate Eddy’s world are delightful, almost Dickensian, in their quirkiness. I love the way De Goldi, rather like Dickens does, gives us brief but vivid sketches which bring even minor characters alive. There's Delphine, “a brat-sprite, precocious and invasive, all angles and ghostly skin and a high insistent voice", and a cluster of religious characters, including a nun who doesn’t believe in the Virgin Birth.
The Christchurch earthquake is a significant factor in the book. For Eddy, the memory is “immediately and heavily at hand, as he supposed it would be for the rest of his life. It was like that for most people, those ten ferocious seconds, the chaotic aftermath, ineradicable.” De Goldi convincingly portrays the devastation of post-earthquake Christchurch as the novel’s characters attempt to negotiate streets and insurance and housing difficulties. Walking from Barbadoes Street to Phillipstown is “a sorrowful pilgrimage’; there are “rubble piles”, “empty lots”. At the end of it, is “the great open wound of the Cathedral, domeless and gutted, a still life of vomited stone”.
The novel begins with the death of Marley, Brain and Eddy’s beloved Labrador. Wrapped in the “Kaiapoi Pure Wool blanket” she has had since she was a puppy, Marley is buried in “the ground beneath the wattle in the backyard, where she had lain in the shade, all the hot afternoons of Eddy’s life”.
At this point, Brain and Eddy have a brief skirmish. Eddy corrects Brain’s quotation, “Marley was dead: to begin with. There was no doubt whatsoever about that.” “No doubt whatever,” said Eddy.” The reference to Dickens’ A Christmas Carol introduces the connections between these novels along with the implication that Eddy, Eddy may feature a return of memories and ghosts.
But wouldn't Brain and Eddy be wracked with grief at their dog's death? Wouldn’t they be weeping? Wasn’t all this quoting and discussing obscuring what was happening? I felt as if I was reading a conversation between two aged Victorian gentlemen, rather than between a 21st Century uncle and his nephew. Could it possibly be real? It seemed to me, as I continued to read, that both Brain and Eddy guard themselves from the hurts of the past through their knowledge of and adeptness with language. Eddy’s rich and wondrous ability with words is his way of protecting himself from the depths of emotion he’s unable to face. His conversations are erudite, filled with cleverness and humour, yet adroitly slip past the dangerous truth; there are areas from the past that he can’t bring himself to articulate. Perhaps this is why De Goldi has given Eddy's girlfriend and soulmate, Boo, the first-person voice; Boo tells us the hard stuff, the sad secrets that haunt their relationship. She is direct and honest. While she’s clever, she doesn’t hide behind language to express her truth.
As we negotiate the many paths of the novel, the reasons for Eddy’s insecurities are gradually revealed, coming as a series of both minor and major blows. He’s been brought up Catholic but has come to the recognition that he no longer shares his beloved uncle’s strongly held religious beliefs. He has had to leave school after a disagreement that escalated into an out-of-control battle. He’s lost contact with former friends, there’s been the earthquake, his accident, the split with Boo, along with the reason for the break-up. His beloved dog has died. Still, there’s something more to come: a mystery. While he talks to his best friend, Thos, he won’t talk about him, not even to Boo who is “forbidden” to speak of him.
The novel moves towards Christmas and it’s the combination of familiar family traditions, the gathering of friends and the song he has coached Delphine to sing as a gift to Brain which forces Eddy to finally crack: "A feeling of great doom crawled over him.” The Christmas ghosts are there and must be faced. Eddy is, at last, able to articulate his loss and grief, to tell the last devastating story, “How good it was talking to Sue, he thought, the grass warm and spongy under his bare feet.”
Eddy, Eddy is a love story, and a coming-of-age story. As well, it’s a reminder of the importance of recalling the past and facing past griefs. Eddy’s final revelation is shattering but it’s also redemptive. Subtle, intense, very funny and very sad, this is a richly layered novel written with elegance, style and love.
Eddy, Eddy by Kate De Goldi (Allen & Unwin, $29.99) is available in bookstores nationwide, and already number one on the Nielsen bestseller chart for NZ fiction
