Sun Dog (Paperback)

The book is set mainly in and around a Shepherd's Bush delicatessen. While Roffey vividly conjures this "gastronomic locker room" she positively lavishes her imagination on August Chalmin, her extraordinary protagonist. August is an awkward pale-skinned gentle giant who has "the eyes of a veal calf" and "blood-orange hair which limbo dances crazily from his head". His pigmentation matches the hues of the Mimolette cheese that lurks beside the Boscaillo olives, Venetian polenta, Milanese panettone and Caspian caviar on the deli's teeming counter. Although he understands food, much of life is a mystery to him. He’s captivated by matronly co-worker Henry and infatuated with Leola, the local florist, but love, at least so far, has largely proved elusive. Raised by his mother, Olivia, in a Yorkshire hippie commune, he never knew his father. When Cosmo, one of Olivia’s former lovers, suddenly materialises after more than 20 years he starts to wonder about his parentage.

As doubts grow, his appearance, odd enough to begin with, starts to change. His body becomes coated in frost. By spring, just as he is beginning to unearth more about his origins, buds sprout from his skin. His physiognomy appears to be echoing the seasons. Could he be allergic to the deli's food? Or, do these transformations offer a clue to the identity of his real father? More Hans Christian Anderson than Franz Kafka, Roffey's novel, replete with a few exquisite tributaries, is an ingenious fable about the nature of love, truth and perception.--Travis Elborough --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
August is a lonely man; a man who feels awkward in social situations and envies others their ease. He wishes he is more like his purported father, Luke. But is Luke his father? And if not who is? And what is happening to August's body? It starts off as a strange rash resembling frost, but after there's a snowstorm around his head and then buds start appearing August begins to think that this complaint must be linked to the seasonal changes. And the really strange thing is how well it makes him feel. As August actually lives through the year within his body, he learns important things about himself, his friends and family. This is a wonderful book, a fascinating study of self-awakening and love - and an appreciation of the world around. The whole novel is alive and sensuous, heavy with the delights of food and flowers, with the wonder of lands unseen. Monique Roffey has strikingly captured her protagonist. She deftly portrays his shyness and angst and makes us believe with his friend Henry that he is 'wonderful' - and also an everyman with whom we can all identify. August's quirky friends are all well drawn and their idiosyncrasies are revealed gradually as their characters develop. A delightful, moving novel, and an excellent debut. (Kirkus UK)

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