The Mirror World of Melody Black
by Gavin Extence.
This is the second novel by Gavin Extence and Sue chose this as his first novel was very interesting
and was rated five stars in the club, but whilst the Mirror World of Melody Black generated an interesting discussion, it was not rated so highly.
Indeed one group member wondered if this was actually his first novel,
but that the publishers had suggested he tackle something more accessible as a first novel, so he wrote the Alex Woods story.
The main character of the novel, a quirky insomniac misfit of a journalist named Abby, shows mood swings right from the start of the book.
The trigger event was her puzzling reaction to finding a dead person. The moods develop as she goes about her life as a journalist,
through hyper-activity, into a full time high street and hotel extravaganza, the inevitable crash, and then care in an institution.
Several of the group found the book quite disturbing, and would not have persisted with reading it had it not been a book club book.
Quite how the book might have been changed to make it more accessible is unclear.
The non-appearance of Melody Black until well past half way through the novel was also seen as a weakness,
and the mirror / parallel world concept hardly figured in the story in spite of being part of the title.
Those of the group with knowledge of bipolar disorder felt that the behavioural descriptions were a good representation,
and interestingly, people suffering from bipolar disorder are normally well aware of themselves and that their behaviour is going “off beam”,
as opposed to psychotic people who have no self-awareness.
Those in the club with knowledge of mental institutions felt the description was inaccurate.
Amongst the story events, the shopping spree in Harvey Nicholls, and the departure from Holy Island via an overnight stay in a walkers’ refuge,
gave club members the most enjoyment from reading this book.
The story overall generated a lot of sympathy for Becks, Abby’s long-suffering partner.
The bleakness of the novel was relieved by a good input of humour,
and overall people felt they could better understand and sympathise with people with mental illness as a consequence of reading the book.
3½ stars. PC.
14th November, 2015
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